Battle Senshi -edited, revised, and FINISHED.
by Key2
Summary: Boo. I'm back! Who am I? ...I don't...know. ^_^ On to the summary: A war on a distant planet??? Atlantians? Donuts? A race opposed to Andalites, AND Yeerks? Girlfriend for marco? Read on viewer. I have only begun to entertain...again.


1 Prelude  
  
Marco  
  
My name is Marco. And, I'm an Animorph.  
  
I've been through a lot during my life as a superhero. Thought about a lot of things too. Things I never want to have to think about again.  
  
But there are some things, things that don't make my head hurt too much, that I can just think about while lying on my bed and listening to Bob Marley.  
  
One that's popped up a lot lately is, do we really think the Yeerks are only invading here in this town? (Never mind where that is.) Is good old America the only Yeerk target? No, 'course not.  
  
So, while we're here fighting the Yeerks, who's fighting them everywhere else on Earth? Anybody?  
  
Chances are we're the only ones. Makes you feel like a real one-of-a-kind freak.  
  
And we probably are.  
  
We're probably all alone. Maybe.  
  
But, you know.sometimes I wonder.  
  
  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Fi  
  
My name is Filiara-Etragurj-Shremtul. Please, call me Fi. I am an Andalite female. I am not in the Military, or any thing related to it. My arrival on Earth is a puzzle, then, isn't it? Yes, quite a mystery. How did a young Andalite Female end up crashing her lone ship into the crust of this out of the way planet?  
  
It was completely and accident, and certainly not my fault.  
  
But, I don't really want to talk about that.maybe we'll return to that subject later.  
  
Anyway, I crashed onto this bizarre planet. I was sure it was all over, that I would stay there until I died a horrible, honorless death in that endless field of trees with pink leaves.  
  
But then, my saviors came. Five brave young humans pulled me from the twisted wreckage of my fighter, and kept me safe until I regained consciousness so I could morph to heal the injuries.  
  
They were curious, and without a doubt scared. But they stayed there, by my side, until I was able to tell them my situation. I told them of the Yeerks. I told them everything.  
  
And then, I did something unforgivable. I took the Morphing Cube from the burning debris, and gave them to the power to morph.  
  
They would be my comrades, these humans. Together, we would stop the Yeerks. Or, in the very least, I had thought bitterly, Make them very, very, annoyed.  
  
Amara, Kai, Lani, Shinji, and Nichirasu. Three females and two males. Four females, counting me. I was pleased with the odds. We became a team. We called ourselves the Battle Senshi. Kai wanted to be the Bishoujo Senshi, but Nichirasu and Shinji did not approve.  
  
We fought well together, and although there were a few disagreements every now and then, we always pulled through, and were friends in the end.  
  
After I declined their wishes for me to lead them, the humans all agreed (all except for Lani) that Amara should be the leader of our group. She was surprised, and bit flattered, I believe. She is a good leader, calm and intelligent.  
  
We infiltrated. We tampered. We destroyed. We blew them out of the Yeerk pool. For months it's been going on like that. We live in secret, hunt the Yeerks by night. It's the only way, really.  
  
I acquired a human morph, by using a procedure that involves mixing the DNAs of creatures of the same species to come up with an original body. I chose to be female, of course.  
  
My human friends and I have been very successful in our exploits. I couldn't be sure if it was because the Yeerks were weak or we were strong, but either way, it was clear we were winning.  
  
Each day, more people were freed. Each day, less Hork-Bajr and Taxxons in the Yeerk pool. Fewer people leaving and entering it.  
  
Under these circumstances, leisure is something we do more and more often.  
  
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"  
  
We were at a place humans call a Water Park. I do not understand it's purpose, since there is an ocean quite close to us, but I must admit, Water Parks are great fun.  
  
"WOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOO!" Amara called, going down one of the long tubes that appeared to be cut in half on a large car tire.  
  
I was in the 'inter-tube' right behind her, letting out cries of joy as well. "YEAAAAAAAAAAA!"  
  
"Oh, man!" Amara called over her shoulder. "This is so coo-"  
  
SPLASH! She landed in the large pool of water at the base of the slide.  
  
SPLASH! Down I went  
  
SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH!  
  
We all struggled to catch our breath, giggling.  
  
"That," Said Nichirasu, ringing the water out of his hair. "Was so, cool."  
  
"Exactly!" Amara agreed gleefully, climbing out of the pool.  
  
"Where to next?" Kai wondered, squinting as she looked around the area. Normally, Kai wears spectacles that allow her to see clearly. I do not know why she can't see clearly naturally, she just cannot.  
  
"Silver bullet," Lani said immediately, almost like an order. "That one's sooo cool."  
  
"Whatever, I'm game." Said Shinji, returning his inter-tube to the pole with all the other inter-tubes.  
  
"After we ride the silver bullet, I would really enjoy to go down the Black Hole. I can understand why they call it that. It is painted black, and the tube is not cut in half, like the other slides. But the Silver Bullet is white, not silver." I said, confused.  
  
"They call it that just cause you go as fast as a silver bullet when you go down it," Shinji explained.  
  
"Do silver bullets go faster, or slower than normal bullets?" I inquired.  
  
"Forget it." Lani said. "Let's just go."  
  
We hiked up to the top of the Silver Bullet in our are bare feet. A huge disadvantage of feet over hooves is that they are much more sensitive to heat.  
  
"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Kai said, trying to keep her feet off the ground as much as possible.  
  
"Itai! Itai, itai, itai!!" Nichirasu agreed.  
  
When we made it all the way to the top, the breeze was a bit stronger, and now, in contrast to our feet, we were cold.  
  
But that was not really what caused me to shudder like I did right then. It was not because of the evaporating water on my skin causing me to cool off. It was because of the Yeerk Bug fighter that I had just seen landing on top of the Mall.  
  
  
  
1.1 Chapter 2  
  
2 Shinji  
  
"Nani?!" Kai cried.  
  
"Are you sure?" Lani said skeptically.  
  
Fi nodded her head in a very exaggerated way. "I am very sure, Lani- chan. A Yeerk fighter. On top of the mall. It was only there for a moment, and then it disappeared behind a kind of clear shimmering curtain. Force field, probably." She paused. "If we go to investigate, may we stop at the Food Court?"  
  
Amara patted her on the back. "We'll see."  
  
Amara is sort of our leader. Her dad was American, so she has slightly more Anglo eyes. Her hair is long, and dyed blue. She keeps it in sloppy buns on the sides of her head. Amara does not get pushed around. Not that many people try too. Amara's leadership doesn't often call to be questioned.  
  
"How do we go? Human or.or what?" Kai wondered.  
  
We were all hiding out underneath a bridge that goes over this river thing at the far end of the park. No one was around.  
  
"By the time we walk over there, we'll have lost them," I pointed out.  
  
"Right. So, let's do birds." Lani said, tapping her foot impatiently.  
  
Nichirasu rolled his eyes at me. Lani has a way of bossing people around sometimes. All the time. Lani is medium height, but she acts like she's a hundred feet tall. She's very beautiful, she has neatly kept shoulder length raven black hair and sparkly eyelids. She loves western fashion, and keeps up with it-I'm sure-more than most westerners do. She collects SailorV Comics and punk rock CDs.  
  
"Flying would be a good way to get from this point to the Mall. Mall- uh."  
  
"Oh, no. She's doing it again!" Nichirasu exclaimed in mock horror.  
  
Nichirasu is the other dude. He has dark black short hair and a permanent skeptical expression. He plays the role of kind of a big brother to the girls, even Amara who is perfectly capable in taking care of herself. He loves extreme sports like snow boarding. Personally, I'd rather buy the computer game.  
  
"Doing what? Wuh-tah?"  
  
Fi is our resident alien. She's great. We only just met her a few months ago, but she's like our new best friend. She's determined and strong. The ultimate macho chick.  
  
"People. Let's go." Lani had already started her morph, probably to crow. Lani lived next door to the Shinto Shrine. Kai lived there, and she kept crows.  
  
Kai is short. She is a priestess at the Moonlight Shinto Shrine, and an expert on divination. She has sloppy, messed up black hair and black wire-rimmed glasses. She is extremely funny, especially when she wants to be. She has a huge sense of humor, and one of the friendliest people you could meet. She's not bad in a fight either. Morphing or no.  
  
Me? I'm Shinji. I have brown hair.and I am cool.  
  
A few minutes later after Lani gave the suggestion, a few crows and pigeons flew from under the bridge, and no one noticed.  
  
We landed in a Dumpster behind the mall and demorphed. We all had been wearing our bathing suits, and hadn't stopped to change into clothes. Which was a good thing and a bad thing. The good thing, we hadn't lost much time. The bad thing, we were in our bathing suits, bare foot, and covered in garbage. Also, to make matters worse, we were all squished up against a very large purple Andalite.  
  
"Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.!" Nichirasu groaned.  
  
"Owowowowow! Watch the blade, Fi-chan! Please!!" Amara cried.  
  
Fi quickly began her human morph. Her human morph was made from the DNA of all of us. It's kinda weird how you can see parts of me in her face. But only sometimes, because most of the time, she just looks like a lunatic with really short hair and bizzare mismatched clothes (usually on backwards). Oh yeah! And by some strange fluke of DNA or Andalite technology, her hair turned out blonde. Go fig.  
  
Okay, now there were six human kids in a dumpster.  
  
Much better.  
  
I took a banana peel off my head.  
  
"This is universally gross." Lani whined, crawling out.  
  
"Agreed. Why do we always have to land in dumpsters?" I said, giving Fi a hand.  
  
"Because no one ever looks for birds turning into humans and aliens in dumpsters." Amara said. "Alrighty. We're in our bathing suits and we kinda stink but people'll just have to deal with that."  
  
She looked at Fi, who was kneeling and staring intently at a column of ants climbing up the side of the dumpster.  
  
"Amazing. Zzzzing. Look at how they carry nearly ten times their body weight!" She was muttering.  
  
Fi is easily distracted sometimes.  
  
"Yeah. Okay." She rubbed her temples. "Let's just go inside and look for anything unusual."  
  
  
  
We searched the mall. We found jack squat. There was nothing bizzare or weird of out of the ordinary. Except for the six kids walking around with no shoes, one of which kept having to get dragged away from things by the other ones, shouting things like, "Look! Look! FORTUNE COOKIES!!! Cuu- kees!"  
  
We took a break and sat down in the food court. We didn't have any money with us, so Kai went to her locker at the Gym place and got her emergency money from her bag.  
  
"Godai for me and Shinji, Hotdog for Nichirasu, a SoBe for Lani-geez Lani do you *always* buy everything imported?-burger for Amara, and a Teriyaki Chicken Bowl for Fi." Kai presented everyone with his or her food.  
  
"Domo Arigotou, Kai-chan." We chorused.  
  
Amara looked around to make sure nobody was close enough to hear. You can never be to careful when it comes to Controllers. And with Bug fighters landing on the roof, you know there's gotta be one or two lurking around.  
  
"Okay," Amara said, swallowing a mouthful or burger. "So we didn't find anything. Are really sure you saw it, Fi-chan?"  
  
"I am very sure, Amara-san." She had bits of rice stuck to her chin.  
  
"So, why would a Bug fighter be landing on the roof of the mall?" I wondered.  
  
"Gotta be another Yeerk pool entrance. What other reason could there be?" Nichirasu said, chewing on the stick thoughtfully.  
  
Lani chugged her SoBe, imported allll the way from America. "Of course! Such a popular place, no one would think it weird that so many are coming and going from it."  
  
"A Yeerk pool. Under the mall. Under us, right now?" Kai shook her head. "What's the world coming to? Even the mall's not safe anymore."  
  
"Was it ever safe?" Nichirasu muttered darkly.  
  
"We've gotta find out where it is. Think about the other entrances we know about, what are they?" Amara prompted.  
  
"Girls locker room at the High school."  
  
"Boys locker room at the Junior high."  
  
"Bathroom at the Burger Place."  
  
"And the dressing room at the Ta Lin." Amara concluded, tucking a loose strand of her blue hair behind her ear.  
  
"So, they're all places where there are no cameras or anything and not a lot of people around to see it." I sighed. "There are thousands of places like that at this stupid place!"  
  
"It's not stupid!" Lani cried.  
  
Amara was shaking her head. "There is no way we can put a round the clock surveillance team posted at every single bathroom and dressing room in a four level mall."  
  
There was a thoughtful silence.  
  
"Yum. YUH-um. Teriyaki. Yah-ky." Said Fi.  
  
We sighed. What an intelligent way to break the silence.  
  
Oh, well. It was Saturday. We were at the mall. We couldn't find a single alien in the area. Cept for Fi, of course. And why waste a perfect Saturday?  
  
"Whelp, I'm going to the arcade." I got up and trashed my trash.  
  
"Me too."  
  
"Me three."  
  
"Video games! Game-zuh!"  
  
  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Rachel  
  
"I can't believe this! This is so cool!" I said, grinning.  
  
You guys, I don't think we should get too excited,Tobias said cautiously.  
  
"Yeah," Jake said. "It might not be what we think it is."  
  
Maybe I should explain. Eric, the Chee, had just gotten wind that there is another group of 'Andalite Bandits' harassing the Yeerks over in Japan. The Yeerk invasion over there is being totally trashed. These other 'bandits' are kicking Yeerk BUTT!  
  
We were all in the barn, and Ax was in human morph, since Cassie's parents were home.  
  
"Well, why wouldn't it be? I mean, we do have it on kind of a reliable source." I said, nodding at Eric. "So, what do we do about it?  
  
"We have to figure out how to contact this other band of 'Andalite Bandits'." Ax concluded.  
  
"But are they really Andalite bandits?" Cassie said, raising an eyebrow. "Or are they.like us?"  
  
Ax stiffened.  
  
"Well," He hesitated. "It is possible that another Andalite.like my brother.has broken the law of Seerow's Kindness. But it's doubtful. They are most likely a group of Andalites who have lost their transport and are harassing the Yeerks until they can be rescued."  
  
"But don't you get it?" I said excitedly. "It doesn't matter what they are! They could be Taxxons, for all I care. All that matters is, we have allies. And what strengthens us, weakens the Yeerks."  
  
"However," Eric began. "This group of 'Andalite Bandits' is currently reeking havoc in Japan. All the way across the pacific ocean. How do you plan on contacting them?"  
  
Personally, I didn't care. We'd find a way. We always did.  
  
But Marco shook his head. "There's no way. We'll just have to wait it out, until they come and find us."  
  
I tapped my foot impatiently. "So, what? What? We just lie down and do nothing?"  
  
Jake nodded slowly. "Maybe.maybe not."  
  
"Well, what do we do, fearless leader?" Marco asked.  
  
"I'll think of something."  
  
"Great."  
  
Cassie was bouncing excitedly while trying to force a pill down a raccoon's throat. "It's still fun to think about."  
  
Jake grinned. "Well, it is kind of nice to think we're not alone. So, Eric? You don't think it's a trap or anything, do you?"  
  
"Maybe." Eric shrugged. "But I doubt it. Visser Three is so cheesed. The invasion isn't going well over there. The New Andalite Bandits are doing some serious damage."  
  
"Cheesed?" Marco said, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Perhaps they are trained Andalite Warriors?" Ax suggested.  
  
"Well it's not doing any good just sitting around talking about it. Let's find some way to get a hold of these new guys!" I said, throwing my hands into the air.  
  
"Oh, I almost forgot."  
  
"Yeah, Eric?"  
  
"Well, since it's going so badly over in Japan- I hear they blew up an entire Yeerk Pool- the Visser is leaving today to go over there personally to take care of it. Probably just kill everyone who's failed him, actually. Either way, he'll be gone a week."  
  
"An opening!" I cried.  
  
Everyone looked at me like I was nuts.  
  
"Don't you see? With the Visser gone, we can push our limits. Trash the Yeerks. With no leader, they'll be confused, unorganized. We have to attack!"  
  
"Oh, and it just worked so well last time." Marco said, rolling his eyes.  
  
"Yes," Ax agreed. "The "hammer concept" was not totally successful."  
  
"Hey, I said I was sorry!" I said defensively. "Besides, I've learned my lesson. No leading for me. Jake is still the main man."  
  
"Anyway," Jake said. "I think we should break for now. It's getting late and I'm going to miss dinner. My grandparents are coming."  
  
"Oh, you know you just want to watch Friends." Marco teased.  
  
"Actually, Marco. Friends will not be on for two more of your hours. Hour-suh." Ax said matter-o-factly.  
  
"Ax-man! They are all of our hours. Not just mine. On Earth, we all use the saaaame hours."  
  
Jake ignored them. "Okay. So, let's meet here tomorrow morning. Hopefully I will have come up with something that vaguely resembles a plan."  
  
"Fine," I agreed. Then I grinned. "It's still cool."  
  
  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Kai  
  
It was twilight. I was standing in front of a gorgeous temple; the two moons were brilliantly full and spilling their light down upon me, making my long white gown simply glow. I ran my fingers through my dark purple hair and-  
  
My what?  
  
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!  
  
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!!"  
  
I shot up in bed.  
  
I looked around. My stuffed Hello Kitty, my SailorMoon alarm clock, my X-files poster. Everything where it should be.  
  
I kicked off the covers.  
  
"No more pizza with pineapples before you go to bed, Kai-chan." I muttered to myself.  
  
I fed my gold fish, Dana and Fox, stuffed a pop-tart in my mouth and was out the door.  
  
"Bugh-baaui Mougm!" I called over my shoulder and choked on frosting, slamming the door behind me with my foot.  
  
I hopped down the steps, still trying to get my heel into my shoe, while juggling my other pop-tart and Lani's long ago borrowed Sailor V comic book.  
  
"Kuso! Lani-san's gonna kill me if I'm late again!!"  
  
I zoomed up the street and made a sharp turn around the corner. And plowed right into someone.  
  
"Aiya!!" I fell back on my butt. "Na, na!! Gomen, gomen!" I hopped up. "I'm really sorry, but I'm kind of in a hurry so-"  
  
Then I looked up and saw who I had bumped into.  
  
It was man, not to tall, but still very intimidating. He wasn't ugly, but I could tell by looking at him he had a very ugly personality. His eyes were scary.  
  
He said nothing.  
  
"Ne..well, I've really got to jet it.so.I'm sorry again!" I hesitated, bowed apologetically, then ran past him. "Ja!" I called over my shoulder.  
  
He didn't even turn around. He just kept walking.  
  
Creepy.  
  
I looked at my watch. "Yah!! I'm late! I'm late!"  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Nichirasu  
  
I yawned. It was too early for this.  
  
We were all meeting at Lani's house, since her parents were out and we could talk openly without worrying.  
  
Also because Lani's house is cool.  
  
It's the biggest house I've ever seen. There's hot tub and a swimming pool, a huge entertainment system with DVD player; huge comfy multi coloured beanbag couches and chairs, and, best of all, a fully stocked refrigerator.  
  
I munched on some potato chips, lounging on a big beanbag. I was chillin. Relaxing. Shinji was playing video games with Amara (Tekken, I think) and kept yelling things at the screen and slamming his game controller into the ground while Amara laughed hysterically. He was losing, bad. Fi was staring at the huge Aquarium, Lani was pacing, and Kai was absent.  
  
"Is she always late?!" Lani asked rhetorically.  
  
"Yep," I said with a mouthful of chips.  
  
"You should know that by now, Lani-chan." Amara said with a laugh. "KIAH!! I win again!"  
  
"NOOOOOOOOO!!" Shinji cried.  
  
"But.why doesn't she get a watch or something?? Does she even have an Alarm clock?!"  
  
"Yeah, she does." Amara said. "It plays the SailorMoon theme song."  
  
"And speaking of that," Lani said, moving on to her next thing to complain about. "She borrowed that SailorV comic from me over a year ago, why hasn't she given it back?"  
  
"Why don't you just buy a new one?" I asked, watching Shinji get clobbered.  
  
"Because, Nichirasu-chan, that volume is no longer in print. It's a collector's item!" Lani wailed.  
  
"Then how come you lent it to her? YES! VICTORY!!" Amara trumpeted.  
  
"You're CHEATING!! YOU HAVE TO BE!!"  
  
"That's what so inky about it. It wasn't a collectors item when I lent it to her."  
  
"Do you have names for your aquatic animals, Lani-san?" Fi spoke up.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Well, Kai-san has aquatic animals also. Although not in such a large tank. But they have names. What are the names you have given your aquatic animals?"  
  
"They're fish, Fi-chan." Lani bent down, snapping out of her whining state. "Well, that's Tenchi and that's Ryoko."  
  
I snickered.  
  
She ignored me.  
  
"That's Sakura, since she's kind of pinkish, that's Hime, since her nose is always in the air, and that's Koi, since he looks kind of like a little Koi fish."  
  
Fi nodded. "I understand all of these references, Lani-san. But why has Kai named her fish Fox and Dana?"  
  
Amara giggled and I groaned.  
  
"NAAAAAA!!!! Konnichiwa, minna-san!! Sorry I'm late!!" Kai burst in the door, kicked off her shoes, slid across the floor and nearly slammed into a wall.  
  
"What kept you?" Lani said, narrowing her eyes.  
  
"Well, first I had that most bizzare dream, then I woke up late and I tried to get here as fast as I could-I really did, Lani! Don't look at me like that!-but I accidentally ran right into this man that was walking down the street and he was really scary and I guess that slowed me down a little bit, cause I swear I left my house right when you told me to-"  
  
"Kai?" I said.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Breathe."  
  
"Okay." She collapsed into a beanbag and stole my chips.  
  
"Hey!"  
  
"There's more in the kitchen." Lani said.  
  
"Okay," Amara said, putting down the game controller. "Can we get started here please?"  
  
"Wait! Best 15 out of 16!!"  
  
"Forget it, Shinji."  
  
Chapter 6  
  
Lani  
  
"Okay. This meeting is now in session." Amara said officially, tucking her hair behind her ear.  
  
"Honorable Judge Amara presiding." Nichirasu said.  
  
Amara glared.  
  
"Sorry. I couldn't resist."  
  
"Anyway," Amara continued. "Let's go through this again. Fi thinks she saw a Bug Fighter land on top of the mall-"  
  
"I did, Amara-san!"  
  
Amara nodded understandingly. "I believe you, Fi. So, Fi saw a bug fighter on the mall. But when we went to check it out we didn't find anything."  
  
"And," I broke in. "It probably landed there because it was a new Yeerk pool entrance."  
  
Amara glanced at me with an unreadable expression. "But we couldn't possibly find it, not with all the places it could be. So, what's the next step?"  
  
"I say we drop it. If it's important, it will reveal itself eventually. Everything always does." Shinji said wisely.  
  
Amara chewed her lip. "This sucks. We can't do a thing about it. But we'll just have to chill for a while here, guys. The Yeerks are still majorly pissed at us for blowing up their pool-"  
  
"-Spiteful, bitter creatures, those Yeerks." Nichirasu said.  
  
"And they are probably not to happy with us right now. And I think it's safe to say that our poor old friend Visser 5 has been demoted. Still, we try anything and that'll be the end of us." She paused dramatically. "Yeah. Okay. Meeting adjourned."  
  
Nichirasu munched on his new bag of chips.  
  
Great. Now we had no lead, and no idea what we were supposed to do. Normally, we do get leads. There is one leak in the Yeerk hierarchy.  
  
At first, we were unsure as to whether to trust this Yeerk. In fact, we still don't trust her totally. Her human name is Miaka. Her Yeerk name is Astral.  
  
She and her host are partners, really. They work together, as a team. Her Yeerk is a member of the Yeerk Peace Core. We have given her very little information about us ourselves. All she knows is that some of us are Andalites, and some of us are human.  
  
And that we are out to rid our planet of her species.  
  
She's a traitor, really. A sell out to her own race.  
  
But if I were a Yeerk, I probably wouldn't feel to bad about it.  
  
She crops up every now and then. Not too often. And when she does it's not for long. She contacts Fi, usually by way of computer. (Fi has managed to hook up quite a little space for herself in the woods, complete with internet and cable TV.)  
  
But Astral wasn't showing up now. She usually only drops a hint or too, and then vanishes. And only when something is REALLY important.  
  
She told us where a Yeerk pool was once.  
  
I remember the first time I went down into that place. It was a total nightmare. We managed to flush all the free humans from the pool, (There weren't too many Hork-Bajir on guard) and then.we blew it up.  
  
We'd tunneled down to the roof of the dome, and rigged up a lot of some of Fi's advanced explosives, mixed in with some plain old human dynamite. Once we were sure that the place was clear of everyone (We even made sure that the Human controllers were locked away safely) we hit the button.  
  
We were above ground, of course. The ground simply collapsed.  
  
The Yeerk controllers were screaming and screaming.  
  
Once it was all over with, we let the controllers go, with a simple message: Leave. Go home, and just leave us alone.  
  
The days afterward were scary. People randomly freaking out on TV, and then suddenly recovering. Cars screeching out of control on the road, drivers gone mad. The Yeerks were starving of their Kandrona Rays.  
  
The humans we freed, (There weren't that many) we made sure they kept quiet. If they took this to the government.if the war was put outright.the humans would loose. For sure. We suggested they leave the country. Most did. The Yeerks were still everywhere. They would come after them.  
  
The Yeerks were still recovering, of course. This new Yeerk pool was probably the new permanent pool, not the temporary one they'd been using for the past couple of weeks.  
  
So, we'd decided that we had to wait it out and lay low. Amara resumed beating Shinji at Tekken, Fi was reading the SailorV comic Kai had finally returned, and Kai and Nichirasu kept fighting over the potato chips.  
  
I took out some nail polish and gave myself a manicure.  
  
Wait it out? Fine with me. As long as we didn't have to blow up anything for awhile.  
  
Chapter 7  
  
Marco  
  
We all met up in Cassie's barn that Sunday. Somehow Rachel convinced Jake to go with her plan about the trashing-the-Yeerks-while-the-Visser-is- gone thing.  
  
I refused to do it unless we infiltrated first this time.  
  
Rachel ducked her head and agreed.  
  
We all morphed birds and landed on the roof of our first target: A Yeerk controlled book store.  
  
We'd gotten this one the last time, too. But we'd hit all of our targets, so we really didn't have any other choice but the destroy them all over again.  
  
I didn't have a problem with it.  
  
We did flies, and checked around. No little kids, not too many civilians, and no old people.  
  
Okay! Ready to smoosh. (is that a word?) ready to crush the bookstore.  
  
And we did.  
  
Then we smooshed the TV station and the computer goods store.  
  
And then, we headed for the final destination: the Style-R-Iffic.  
  
What a Lame-O-Riffic name for a hair salon, I commented as Rachel busted down the door.  
  
"HHHROOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR!"  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!! OH MY GOD!"  
  
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Is that a GORRILLA?!?!?"  
  
"Do something!!!"  
  
"Quick-hit it with the hair dryer!!"  
  
'Hit it with the hair dryer'? Tobias said, laughing.  
  
Frantic women ran out of the door, screaming bloody murder.  
  
I knuckle walked over to one of the mirror/table things and knocked it over. Then I opened all the bottles of shampoo and emptied them all over the place.  
  
Hey! That's my favorite brand! Rachel complained, toppling shelves of mousse.  
  
Sorry.  
  
I ripped off a couple of framed pictures of perfectly styled people from the walls and smashed them into the windows.  
  
Cassie was knocking over other shelves of shampoo on the other side of the room. Take THAT you animal testing jerks!  
  
While all this was happening, the radio was still on. It was playing the Dixie Chicks or something. I calmly smashed the radio into the ground.  
  
I'm not a big fan of country.  
  
Ax calmly walked over to a cowering woman in the corner and took the hair dryer from her. Her hair was still bubbly with Shampoo.  
  
Do not be afraid, He assured her. She passed out.  
  
I think we're done here. Jake said, calmly pushing over the appointment desk with one paw.  
  
I turned, and saw something you don't normally see in a hair salon.  
  
Hork-Bajir! Cassie cried.  
  
Bail! Now! Jake called.  
  
We all bolted for the exit, but a group of Hork-Bajr cut us off.  
  
Go back! The back door!  
  
Wait! I can take 'em!  
  
Rachel, COME ON!  
  
So, we bolted for the back door. I turned around a sharp corner and went down a long corridor.  
  
What are Hork-Bajir doing here anyway?! I screamed.  
  
I don't know! Cassie cried frantically.  
  
I glanced over my shoulder. They were gaining fast.  
  
Suddenly, everything changed. On second we were in a nice, normal hallway, and the next, we were surrounded with piles of wood and dusty floors and random sheets of bubble wrap.  
  
They must be adding a new wing, Jake said breathlessly. Just keep going! They're coming!  
  
I ran.  
  
ARRRRRRGHH! He's got me!  
  
Rachel!! Cassie cried.  
  
It's okay it's okay! I'm on it! She called back, sounding pained.  
  
Keep going! Jake roared. She'll be fine!  
  
Then, I noticed something. Jake! There's a door up ahead!  
  
What? It's probably a trap! Jake said breathlessly.  
  
It's the only way! Go through the door or fight!  
  
The Hork-Bajir had gained back the distance they'd lost while fighting Rachel.  
  
Okay! Everybody go through the door on the left!  
  
I hit the door, full on with my shoulder. It flew open, sending me flying down a flight of stairs.  
  
Go, go, go! I heard Jake say.  
  
Jake slammed the door with one of his powerful paws.  
  
Oh, my god. Cassie breathed.  
  
I guess she'd noticed where we were. I'd noticed it too.  
  
The Yeerk Pool.  
  
Chapter 8  
  
Ax  
  
Uh-oh. Everybody, hurry! Find a place to demorph, don't let anybody see you, and remorph flies. NOW! Prince Jake said in panic.  
  
I did not have to find a place to demorph. While the others scattered blindly behind crates and boxes, I leapt away from the door as it burst open, a crowd of Hork-Bajr flooded onto the stair. They did not see me. I had the element of surprise.  
  
FWAPP FWAPP FWAPP FWAPPFWAPP!  
  
The Hork-Bajir were no longer a problem.  
  
Prince Jake? The Hork-Bajr will not be bothering us again.  
  
Good job, Ax. Now, go find Rachel. We'll come follow you as soon as we can. Hurry!  
  
I stepped over the fallen bodies into the hallway. As soon as I was through the door, it slammed shut. I snapped around and stared at it a moment.  
  
I grabbed the door knob and twisted it with my weak hands. Locked!  
  
It was a steel door. No hope of my tail blade slicing through it.  
  
Prince Jake! The door to the pool has sealed itself!  
  
The was no answer.  
  
Prince Jake!  
  
I would find him later. I had orders to follow. I ran down the hallway. The wall was streaked with blood. I found a jumble of bodies on the floor, beneath the remains of a fallen wall.  
  
Rachel?  
  
The wall lifted. A severely wounded grizzly bear pushed up from the twisted debris.  
  
Ax? She asked weakly.  
  
Rachel, you must demorph. You are injured. Prince Jake and the others are trapped in the Yeerk Pool.  
  
She quickly began to demorph. What happened?  
  
  
  
Chapter 9  
  
Jake  
  
This was great.  
  
Just. Great.  
  
Okay, so there we were, mid-morph in flies, and suddenly I was hearing loud, raging, rambling, vibrations.  
  
It was someone screaming.  
  
With anger.  
  
"You incompetent FOOLS! You're almost worse than those bumbling idiots I have just removed from their posts for failing to destroy the new group of Andalite Bandits! I will destroy you for this!"  
  
"B-but Visser-"  
  
"You DARE interrupt me, fool?!"  
  
Silence.  
  
I tried to buzz as close as I could. The beginnings of a tail spouted from the Visser's human morph.  
  
I will show you what happens to those who interrupt me!  
  
FWAPP!  
  
The human controller cried out in pain.  
  
The other one shrunk back, clutching her clipboard.  
  
I leave you for one day and already the Andalite Bandits have discovered our new pool entrance! FOOLS! The Visser seethed. He pointed at the woman with the clipboard with a thin Andalite finger. You. I want you to take a fighter and a dozen Hork-Bajr to the human country called Japan. I don't care what you must do, but I want those bandits dead. If you can infiltrate them, fine. But bring me their leader. I want to make him scream.  
  
And the Winner of the spirit award goes to. Marco whispered in private thought speak.  
  
The woman nodded quickly.  
  
I have got so much more to worry about right now-I really do not wish to complicate matters further with these new additions to my annoyance. Do not disappoint me, Sub-Visser 34.  
  
She trembled only slightly. "I won't, Visser."  
  
Have you ever tried for hours just to come up with an idea? Just slaved and slaved away, trying to make something work?  
  
Well, I've done that too. But sometimes ideas just totally jump out at you, and it's all you can do to keep from jumping up and down and going, "Oo! Oo!"  
  
I've got it! I said triumphantly.  
  
Got what? Tobias asked.  
  
I'll explain later, let's go find Ax and Rachel!  
  
When we were finally sure that the area was clear, Rachel busted down the door by ramming a big old thick metal pole into it, Viking style.  
  
Now we were hiding in a dumpster on the side of the building. I hate dumpsters.  
  
I had a plan. And we didn't have much time.  
  
See, what I had in mind was pretty loony. Insane. It was going to take some serious speed and a lot of luck. Rachel would love it.  
  
It was very risky. I wasn't sure if I should even bother bringing it up. But it had to be done.  
  
It was our only chance.  
  
"I love it!"  
  
Told you.  
  
"Uh-oh. If Rachel loves it, that seriously means we're toast." Marco whined.  
  
My plan was to.hijack the Yeerk Fighter as it was leaving. We had to find someway to get contact with these other guys, and this was our only way.  
  
We'd get on board, unnoticed, and then when we were clear of any way for the  
  
Yeerks to rescue the Sub-visser, we'd spring the attack. We'd tap into their files and find out all we could about these new bandits. And then we'd find them. Somehow.  
  
"Sorry, man. But there are a few problemos with your plan." Marco held up one finger. "One: Parents. How long will this take, anyway?"  
  
Bug Fighters, being stolen Andalite technology, though they were altered, their capabilities remain pretty much the same. To get across this ocean called the Pacific, it would take perhaps .5 Earth hours.  
  
"Okay, so there you go. But how long will it take to contact these guys, anyway? And how do you think we're going to do that, exactly?"  
  
"Who cares, Marco? We'll worry about the details later!" Rachel was, of course, pumped and ready to go. Tobias shifted on her shoulder.  
  
What if something goes wrong? Like we can't find them. Then we'd end up stuck in Japan and no way home.  
  
"We could always put ourselves in crates and fly cargo," Marco suggested helpfully.  
  
"But look. We don't have much time. It's now or never. Do we try this or not?" I asked.  
  
There was a pause.  
  
"Ax, do you think this will work?" I asked him.  
  
I will follow where ever you lead, Prince Jake. Also, I would love to try any new and exotic foods the Japanese have for sampling. Sushi looks delightful.  
  
"I'm game!" Rachel said happily.  
  
Marco shrugged. "Might as well."  
  
Okay.  
  
Cassie paused. "Okay. But I have a paper due tomorrow, and if I don't get home to do it on time, I'm going to be mad."  
  
I grinned.  
  
"Deal."  
  
  
  
Chapter 10  
  
Amara  
  
Late that night, I walked silently on the sidewalk in front of the hospital. The cool evening air made me rub my hands together before opening the glass door to the entrance.  
  
"Hello, how may I help you?" The young woman at the desk asked.  
  
I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "Yes, I'm here to see Akari (last name), please."  
  
Tap, tap, tap went the keys on her computer. Her face saddened when she looked at the screen. "Intensive care unit?"  
  
"Yes, ma'am." I said quietly.  
  
She gave me a small smile. "Room 104, level two."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
I walked up the hall and punched the Up button on the elevator. Once it opened, and I stepped inside with my hands folded.  
  
The elevator lurched and so did my stomach. It seemed to creep up to the second floor, and after an eternity, the doors opened.  
  
"Room 104.room 104." I mumbled.  
  
Then I saw it. I looked inside the little window, and there she was, looking so small and frail in her little bed.  
  
I gently pushed open the door into the dimly lit room. "Akari-chan?" I whispered.  
  
No answer. She was sleeping.  
  
Stepping over to her side, I began to realize just how bad my little cousin's condition was.  
  
She was slowly dying of cancer. Well, recently, not so slowly. The doctor predicted about one more month and then it would be over.  
  
I knelt beside her, taking her hand in mine, and bowed my head. "Kami- sama," I said softly. "Don't let it end like this."  
  
I left her there, laying in her bed, with the rhythmic hum of her heart monitor.  
  
Once I was home, I realized I was alone. My mom and my little bro were out somewhere. 'Went to the store,' the sloppy note on the fridge said.  
  
I plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV, staring at the ceiling.  
  
"Stop thinking about it, Amara." I scolded myself. "Akari will be fine, she's be just fine. Don't let it mess you up like this."  
  
I turned my head to look at the TV. It was the news. The picture in the background looked like some twisted wreckage of a helicopter or something.  
  
".The explosion happened at a building near Tokyo Tower, earlier this evening. The mysterious crash has resulted in 7 injured bystanders, and in the area of about 34 billion yen worth of damage. The craft remains unidentified, and the pilot and passengers are yet to be found. But chances are, there are no survivors."  
  
I stared at the 'craft', partly covered in debris, which appeared to just have smashed into the side of the building. Pilots get worse all the time.  
  
"Hey, wait a second." I said. I jumped up off the couch and ran to the TV. I grabbed it with both hands and got a good look at it.  
  
"Oh, my god." I breathed. "That looks like a bug fighter."  
  
"Lani! Lani!" I yelled into the phone.  
  
Lani's groggy voice responded, "What do you want?"  
  
"Shut up for a second! Turn on your TV! The news!"  
  
"This better be good, Amara." She grumped. Then she paused. "Is that what I think is??"  
  
"Yeah, it is! Call the others! I'm going to go get Fi!"  
  
  
  
Chapter 11  
  
Cassie  
  
MARCO!!!! Rachel screamed. Jake, what were you thinking, letting this LUNATIC pilot the fighter?  
  
Hey! Marco said defensively. We're all okay! I didn't get anybody killed!  
  
I would have rolled my eyes, if I could have. We were hiding in an old broom closet in the building that Marco had slammed us into.  
  
After we got aboard the bug fighter, we'd waited till we were far over the ocean before attacking. Ax had knocked them out, and we'd tied them up in the corner. Then, after we.landed. we dragged them out and left them in the basement. They'd wake up eventually.  
  
It was an improvement over the alternative, which was dumping them into the pacific ocean.  
  
Now we were a small group of flies hiding in a broom closet.  
  
Okay, guys. Jake broke in. Demorph. Ax and Tobias? Morph human. We'll slip out the back door or something, and plan from there.  
  
Not much of a plan, fearless leader. Marco teased.  
  
Would you like to formulate a plan from a broom closet? I'm sitting in a bucket of sludge. Jake began to demorph.  
  
I just laughed and returned to my human form.  
  
We tiptoed behind all the reporters and police officers inside the building, unnoticed. And all the while I was getting this really weird feeling. Like something was about to happen.  
  
I hate it when I get that feeling, because I'm almost always right.  
  
  
  
Chapter 12  
  
Fi  
  
We headed over to the building Amara had described. The others went as themselves, and I morphed to human. Amara decided it would be best if we just 'scoped it out' before taking action.  
  
I donned my artificial skin and we were off.  
  
Lani was eyeing me ruefully.  
  
"Is something the matter, Lani-san? San. SAHN.."  
  
"Fi. Remind me to take you shopping sometime soon. Those clothes you have just aren't working for you."  
  
We boarded the human transportation system called a 'Bus'.  
  
"What is wrong with them? Do they not look like normal artificial skins?"  
  
Lani began to speak but Amara stopped her.  
  
"They're fine, Fi. I think they look great." Amara said.  
  
"Very spiffy," Kai agreed.  
  
I looked down. I was wearing a bright blue 'sleeveless' with a white 'button down' over it, but not buttoned. On my human legs I wore dark green 'cargo guys shorts' and 'rainbow knee-highs'. Around my waist was tied another 'long sleeved button-down', which was green. My human feet were protected by 'thong sandals'.  
  
Protection with artificial skin apparently requires many layers, and a strange extended vocabulary.  
  
By the time I was done speculating about artificial skin, we had arrived at our destination.  
  
Upon leaving the bus, Amara dropped some human money into a box by the bus pilot. Another thing I do not understand about humans is their money.  
  
The area was crowded with humans, trying to get a glimpse of the fighter sticking out of the building. It looked almost comical.  
  
"Okay," Amara said quietly, and we all leaned in to listen. "We go around the camera crews over the left of the building, into the alley. Then we morph birds and fly into the opening. We demorph, and poke around a little bit. Okay?"  
  
"Let's book it!" Shinji said gleefully.  
  
Lani stared at him. "Shinji, stop stealing lines from Sailor V. It's disturbing."  
  
We stealthily made our way behind the mass of people, and into the dark alleyway.  
  
"What is it with the alleys?" Nichirasu asked suddenly. "Why are we always doing everything in alleys and dumpsters?"  
  
"Nichirasu, we really don't have time-" Amara began.  
  
Just then, the door she was standing next to flew open and hit her in the face. She went flying backwards, and landed in.well, a dumpster.  
  
"Amara-san!" We all cried.  
  
Then I found myself staring face-to-face with six human youths. They appeared to be about the same age as my friends. However, one of them had very light hair, like my human morph does.  
  
Then spilled into the alley. The last one shut the door behind him. Nichirasu took Amara's arm and helped her sit up in the dumpster.  
  
"OKAY, whoever did that is about to get up close and personal with my fist!!" She yelled.  
  
Chapter 12  
  
Tobias  
  
We stood there in the alley, unsure of what to do. We'd run into a group of Japanese kids, and they firmly blocked our path.  
  
"Um, excuse us." Jake said apologetically.  
  
The girl in the dumpster said something loud and curt in Japanese. She took some trash off of her blue-haired head.  
  
"I'm sorry." Cassie said apologetically to her. Then she looked pointedly at Marco. "I think you bashed her on the head."  
  
"We don't speak your language," Jake continued. "So, um.."  
  
The guy with the black hair was helping blue hair out of the dumpster. She wiped her self off and planted her self firmly in front of us. She leaned in and narrowed her eyes as she looked at Jake. She asked him something.  
  
We all glanced at each other.  
  
The black haired guy made a sarcastic remark. I don't know what he said, but I guess it was probably something along the lines of They don't speak Japanese, you idiot.  
  
Suddenly, the blonde haired one said something. Then all six of us stared at her. Stared at her long and hard. Because something about the way she'd said it was all too familiar.  
  
It sounded something like this:  
  
"Nichirasu-san, RAH-su.SAHN, San-uh.Amara-san wa.WAH.iie EE-YEH bakiyo, dah. DAH.."  
  
"Did she just..?" I let myself trail off.  
  
"She sounds just like." Rachel looked at me.  
  
"What? WUH-tuh?" Ax asked stupidly.  
  
Cassie grabbed his arm. "She sounded just like you, Ax! She plays with words, like you do!"  
  
"Nani?" Blue hair demanded impatiently.  
  
Then, suddenly, we were tumbling trough space and time.  
  
Chapter 13  
  
Kai  
  
Spinning, spinning, everything was spinning! And then, it all stopped.  
  
We were standing in whiteness. All of us. The Battle Senshi.and the strange Americans. It extended forever to either side of us. And I began to get that sinking feeling.  
  
Twelve voices uttered the same word.  
  
"Ellimist!"  
  
The Ellimist appeared, then. He was laughing. In the guise of an old man, like always.  
  
"Ah, my friends. You finally meet." He grinned.  
  
"What are you talking about??" Lani demanded. "Who are they?"  
  
One of the Americans, a blonde girl, said something to the Ellimist in a language I did not understand. She sounded unhappy.  
  
"Well, perhaps things would go better if you could understand each other."  
  
Suddenly, a wall in my mind evaporated. I felt a deeper understanding. The language barrier! It disappeared! Just at the tanner American boy was saying:  
  
"Ellimist! What are we doing here?? And why did you bring these wack- jobs?!"  
  
Lani leapt and grabbed his shirt collar. "Did you just call me a wack- job?"  
  
"Who? Me? No, no, of course not." He smiled sheepishly and Lani let him go.  
  
"She's always like this when she's been deprived of her beauty sleep." Nichirasu stated.  
  
"You wanna start something with me too, Nichirasu??" Lani hissed.  
  
The Ellimist broke out into laughter again.  
  
"What? What's so funny?!" The blondie American demanded.  
  
"I was just hoping you'd get along better then this." He said with a genuinely amused smile.  
  
"You still haven't answered our question." The taller, brown haired boy asked. "Who. Are. They?"  
  
The Ellimist floated down to our level. Then he gestured as if he were casually introducing two groups of his friends.  
  
"Animorphs, meet the Battle Senshi. Battle Senshi, these are the Animorphs. You both have been causing the Visser a great deal of trouble lately, I felt when I put you together, you would make an excellent team."  
  
Our eyes met, and then, we caught on. These were them. The other 'Andalite Bandits'. The ones in America we had heard about from Miaka/Astral.  
  
"They're humans!" We cried.  
  
Chapter 14  
  
Rachel  
  
"I don't believe this! Let down again! Here they are, not Andalites, but KIDS! Plain, HUMAN kids, just like us! When will it end?!"  
  
I was not a happy camper.  
  
There we were, floating in nothingness, when the Ellimist breaks the news that the 'resistance' that we were hoping to find was a let down, like many times before. They 'new Andalite Bandits' were just like the old. A group of kids. Sad day for all.  
  
"Hey, we're not exactly happy with this either!" The badly dressed chick with the blue hair defended. "We were hoping you were Andalites!"  
  
"Hey, hey, hey. Everybody chill for a second." The brown-haired Japanese guy said calmly. "We're not all kids."  
  
"What do you mean?" Cassie asked softly, confused.  
  
"She's an Andalite." He said, jerking his thumb at the really oddly dressed girl behind him. (She looked like she'd been dressed in the dark. Or by a pokemon character.)  
  
Ax's face kinda lit up there for a second. Be he regained his composure. Then he spoke up. "I.I am also an Andalite."  
  
There was a pause.  
  
"Rock on!" The girl with glasses cried.  
  
I snapped my fingers in her face a little rudely. "Hey, hey, hey. Yeah, it's cool. But we need to focus here!" I turned to the Ellimist. "So? What now? It was so nice of you to bring us together here for this happy meeting, but you've got to have a reason for it. So, spill!"  
  
He nodded grimly. So, he did have something to hide.  
  
"I knew it," Marco groaned. "Why is it then whenever he gets involved we always end up running and screaming for our lives?"  
  
Glasses girl stifled a giggle.  
  
"It's true, there is a reason why I've arranged for you to meet here. There will be a battle, a very important, very large battle. It will mean deciding the fate of a species, and possibly, two species."  
  
"And?" Cassie asked quietly.  
  
"Six is not enough. There is power in unity. I will need to ask all twelve of you, to save this race. To fight their war."  
  
We let that sink in for a second there.  
  
"I would like to tell you more.but I have limited time. Crayak is waiting, impatiently. I fear I must let you discover all that you can about the impending battle on your own. But you must decide, quickly." He actually seemed to fidget. The Ellimist! FIDGETING! "All I can say is this will be unlike anything you have ever done before.the fate of an entire race hangs in the balance. Will you help them?"  
  
There was only a moments silence.  
  
"Will you help them?" He repeated.  
  
The glasses girl walked over and tugged on blue hair's sleeve. "Amara- san, we really can't say no, can we?"  
  
The 'Battle Senshi' all looked at each other. Then, blue hair nodded slowly and turned to the Ellimist. "We're in."  
  
  
  
"That's it? That's all the consent you guys need? Just a glance and you're ready to risk you're lives? Whew." Marco marveled, a bit sarcastically.  
  
"Well, I have to agree with." Cassie looked at glasses girl.  
  
She smiled, and bowed. "Kai."  
  
"I have to agree with Kai here, Jake." She and Jake looked at each other.  
  
"Dude! Aren't we rushing this a bit? I mean, what does any of this have to do with us, anyway?" Marco demanding. "We're gonna go off, and risk our butts for some far off species that we have no ties with? Again?! Come on!"  
  
His eyes darted from side to side, nervously. But he knew he was defeated.  
  
The girl with glasses looked at him in disgust. Well, at least what looked like mild disgust. She didn't really look like a person who was easily disgusted.  
  
"How can you say that?" Cassie asked him quietly. "We're talking about a race.an entire race. And we have the power to save them. How can you even ask it, Marco?"  
  
He hung his head and shrugged his shoulders, then shoved his hands in his pockets.  
  
We all looked at each other. Yup, that's my cue!  
  
"Let's do it!"  
  
And that was Marco's cue. "Uh-oh. We're doomed."  
  
Jake put out his hand for blue hair to shake. "I'm Jake."  
  
She took it and grinned with a sort of half-bow. "Amara." Then she pointed each of her friends out. "Kai, Shinji, Nichirasu, Lani, and Fi."  
  
"I'm Rachel." I broke in.  
  
"Xena: Warrior Princess." Said you know who.  
  
"Cassie-"  
  
"Our resident tree hugger. And I'm Marco, the funny, cute, loveable one."  
  
I saw Lani roll her eyes exaggeratedly.  
  
Marco proceeded to finish the introductions. "This is Tobias, Rachel's bird-friend, and everybody's favorite Alien, Ax."  
  
The Battle Senshi bowed in unison. "Nice to meet you."  
  
Suddenly Lani became animated. "Okay, okay! Now that we're all friends, you better give us at least a day to get ready for this little gig you got planned here-a girl's gotta pack! Tie up some loose ends and-"  
  
"I gotta feed my gold fish!" Kai cried.  
  
I would've laughed, I could get to like this Lani girl. She sounded just like me. But I could already feel time shifting.  
  
"Oh, no." The one called Nichirasu said darkly.  
  
"Amen, brother." Marco added.  
  
The Ellimist had disappeared, and the ground on which we stood was warping. His voice was faint as he said, "You will fight for the Megami race. Your enemies: Yeerks. Good luck, friends. You will need it."  
  
"Ellimist," I growled. "I swear- one day I'm gonna-"  
  
Time shifted and I found myself high up in a tree.  
  
Chapter 15  
  
Kai  
  
I wouldn't really consider myself a graceful person. I'm more of a. spazzmonkey. Yeah, that's it. Now, when I find myself balancing on a tree branch 300 feet up from where any normal person should be, I feel slightly.uncomfortable.  
  
"YAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!" I screamed. I teetered back and forth for a waaay too long moment, wind milling my arms trying to keep my balance. Then I fell.  
  
Luckily-or unluckily, depending on your perspective-I fell back against Marco.  
  
"Hi." I said, looking at him.  
  
"It's all right. You can't help it. All women find me irresistible."  
  
I elbowed him in the ribs and shoved him away from me.  
  
"Yeah, Marco. And what species do these Marco-worshipping women come from again?" Rachel asked, from a few branches up.  
  
"Okay, new question. WHY ARE WE UP IN THESE TREES??!" Lani yelled.  
  
"Prince Jake, I feel that my clumsy human legs are about to be the death of me." Ax said nervously. He was hanging practically upside down on a branch of the tree next to mine.  
  
Amara was sitting calmly on a nice big branch about five feet below me. "Is everybody okay?" She called up.  
  
"All accounted for, sergeant." Nichirasu replied. "Now what?"  
  
Cassie was hanging on Jake, to keep from falling. She looked like she was about to pass out. Poor girl. I used to be afraid of heights. But I'm over that now. Heh. Nobody bought that, huh?  
  
Jake glanced down at Amara. "I think morphing would be the obvious thing to do here."  
  
"Or, demorphing, dude." Tobias pointed out. I cocked my head to the side and looked at him. What was that supposed to mean?  
  
"Well," Shinji interjected from a ways upward. "That would work for most of us. But guys, hello? Fi and Ax?"  
  
Jake looked from Ax to Fi, unsure of who to address. "How do Andalites fare in trees?"  
  
It was Fi who spoke up. "Not as good as we'd like to. Too-uh."  
  
"But you do alright?" Amara inquired. "We won't have to scrape Andalite guts from the ground down there?"  
  
Fi grinned. "No, Amara-san."  
  
So, Fi and Ax demorphed first, and we all helped them stay balanced. Then Ax morphed falcon, and Fi morphed parrot. They perched on a branch even with Jake.  
  
Jake raised an eyebrow. "Parrot? Isn't that a little obvious?"  
  
"We're on a distant planet, here. What's not obvious?" Cassie pointed out.  
  
Jake nodded, accepting the idea. "Tobias, demorph. Your time's almost up."  
  
"Demorph?" Lani asked, confused. "Wha?"  
  
The Animorphs team seemed to hesitate. Then, Tobias demorphed. To my surprise, he took the form of the bird. He fluttered over and landed on Rachel's shoulder. Rachel's eyes avoided contact with Lani.  
  
Ax sensed the reluctance to explain from his friends and jumped in. Allow me to explain. Tobias has been trapped in morph.  
  
A nothlit. Fi breathed.  
  
But his morphing powers have been restored by the Ellimist. He can morph, and can return to his human form for two hours at a time.  
  
We looked on Tobias with pity. A felt really bad for the guy, but also a new sense of respect. I don't know if I could live my life as a bird.  
  
After we all became various feathered friends, we took off, to explore our new surroundings.  
  
Little did we know what terror awaited us.  
  
Or what I would discover.about myself.  
  
  
  
Chapter 16  
  
Jake  
  
Oh, wow. Cassie said in awe. It's so beautiful.  
  
And it was. We were in a vast land of trees. They were the tallest, lushest trees I had ever seen. It was green, green, everywhere green! But it wasn't just trees. Other plants, dripping with water from a recent rain, towards the distant forest floor. There was a huge river, parting the forest. It was clearer than any river I had known.  
  
It was amazing. Some sort of tropical rain forest, seemingly untouched. To the left, hills, with tall, green grass and enormous flowers. Like sunflowers, except the petals were a gentle blue.  
  
How could any species even think to invade in such a beautiful place? Lani asked quietly.  
  
That kind of brought me back to reality. Okay, we're not here to look at the scenery. We have to find out why we're here. We have to find our enemies and our allies, and we have to do it soon. Before our enemies find us first.  
  
I hesitated a second. I'd gotten so used to being leader, I'd forgotten that half these guys weren't my team. Would the battle Senshi listen to me? Would they obey me in the heat of battle?  
  
And then, the other thought. The one I felt the moment I saw the one called Amara. She was a leader. She could be the leader. And.I wouldn't have to be anymore. I could push it all off on her, the responsibility of the new team. I could just be Jake. Not big Jake, not Jake the leader, not Jake anything. Just Jake.  
  
But how could I do that?  
  
So? Rachel asked. How? Got a plan?  
  
Everyone was silent for a second. We glided peacefully on the warm thermals billowing upward.  
  
Um, excuse me? Kai broke the silence. I have an idea.  
  
Kai? Amara prompted.  
  
Well.I.uh.I don't know how I know this, so don't even ask. But I think we'll find the answer back in the trees. Right down below us.  
  
Twelve bird heads looked down.  
  
What? Rachel demanded. I see nothing!  
  
Just go with me on this...okay? Kai sounded embarassed.  
  
Ahhh, I get it. Another one of your feelings. Shinji said. So, down to the trees?  
  
Feelings? I asked, confused.  
  
Ah, well, let's just say Kai has very good instincts. To the trees! Amara called.  
  
The Battle Senshi spilled air from their wings and dived.  
  
Shall we follow them, oh great leader? Marco asked.  
  
Uh...to the trees!!  
  
And we went.  
  
  
  
Chapter 17  
  
Shinji  
  
We broke the canopy, and I perched on a thin branch. Light from in between the giant leaves of the canopy filtered down in nifty little patterns and lit the forest floor. Very. Cool.  
  
What morph do you think would be our best bet for scoping this place out, Cassie? Jake asked.  
  
Well, parrots are pretty well adapted to this habitat...  
  
We have parrot morphs, I offered.  
  
Okay. Parrots it is.  
  
Those of us who were not already parrots began to demoprh. I wondered whether Amara was getting ticked off by this Jake guy giving all the orders. She'd never been a really bossy leader, but I know I'd be annoyed.  
  
We all sat on various branches, high, high up in the trees. Ax went right into parrot morph.  
  
Lani exhaled and leaned back against the tree the her branch was protruding from. "Can't we just rest a little while? I've barely had any sleep!"  
  
"Yeah. I was sleeping soundly, having this lovely little dream-when my phone rings. And when my phone rings at an ungodly hour, somehow I know I'm not getting any more sleep." Nichirasu pulled his hat down over his eyes.  
  
"Hey, hey, hey wait a second." Cassie said, waving her hands about. "You're clothes! They didn't fall away! You morphed your clothing?"  
  
"Well, yeah! Why wouldn't we be able to??" Lani sat up in surprise. "That would just be totally embarrassing if we couldn't!!"  
  
The Animorphs looked at the parrot that was Ax. I- He began.  
  
Allow me to explain. My eldest sister was a Morph Dancer. Special morphing cubes can be attained for those who practice the arts. I.borrowed her cube and this is the very same I used to allow my friends to acquire the morphing power.  
  
"Borrowed?" Marco laughed. "That's great-"  
  
Marco was cut off mid-sentence because at that very moment he was jumped on by a strange girl.  
  
She had a knife.  
  
"YAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" He screamed.  
  
The girl wrapped her arms around his waist from behind and leapt -yes, LEAPT-with him under her arm to a higher branch. She hopped from tree to tree until she was a safe distance from us.  
  
"Marco!" Rachel cried.  
  
The girl stood with Marco, wriggling and cussing at her. He fought and fought. She kept him restrained with her mere arm. She pressed her knife-which looked like a sharpened bone-against his throat. He stopped fighting.  
  
She snapped at us in a hard toungued language. She seemed infuriated. She yelled, over and over again the same thing.  
  
What is she talking about?! Tobias asked in panic.  
  
"Sounds like Egyptian! Maybe even Greek!!" Lani cried.  
  
"Since when do you study foreign language?!" Nichirasu cried back.  
  
She took the knife from Marco's throat and put him in a headlock. It looked really, really, painful. He made a noise much like an injured dog.  
  
"Yeerk!" She spat.  
  
No!! Fi interjected. No, we're not Yeerks!!  
  
She looked around. Her eyes darted from side to side. So, she wasn't used to hearing thought speak. The girl loosened her grip on Marco for just a second.  
  
Enough.  
  
He flew backwards, and jumped. He frantically grabbed, and caught a branch. He hung, but then pulled his torso up over the branch, and breathed heavily.  
  
The girl angrily waved her knife at us and yelled in her strange language.  
  
The whole time, I was seriously disturbed by how much she looked like Princess Mononoke. Ever seen that movie? Remember how San moved? That's exactly how. Every motion was exaggerated with power. Every jerk of her head was hard and fast.  
  
Okay, I have got it now! Fi cried.  
  
Got what? Ax asked her. He was unbelievably calm.  
  
My language translator just picked it up. She explained quickly. To the girl, Friend! I am and Andalite! We have come to aid you in your War against the Yeerks!  
  
Her head jerked, and her oversized earrings glinted. Her fierce eyes locked on Fi. Eyes filled with hate.  
  
Then, with one liquid movement of her arm, she took her sharp, bone knife and hurled it at Fi.  
  
Fi let out a Parrot squak and jerked out of the way, seconds before the knife would have impaled her. Instead, it stuck, hard, into the tree.  
  
"Andalite! HA!" The girl spat. Then, she launched herself upward, and flew from tree to tree. She disappeared in the canopy. Leaving us openmouthed, staring at her knife.  
  
  
  
Chapter 18  
  
Cassie  
  
We decided to head to the forest floor for the night. It was the safest place to be, since it was raining, and the sun was setting fast. Marco, of course, wanted to get as far away from the area as possible, but on the ground it was already to dark to see anything.  
  
We found a (very) little cave sheltered by trees and vines that we choose as our shelter. I morphed wolf to make sure there were no inhabitants of the cave.  
  
I sat towards the mouth of the cave with the others, listening to the soft drip drip drip of the rain.  
  
Marco leaned against the wall, rubbing his neck and muttering.  
  
Ax and Fi stood towards the back of the cave, talking amongst themselves.  
  
Jake was pacing, no doubt brooding over his responsibilities. Amara, however, was sleeping. Sprawled out at the base of a rock. And snoring softly. The sight almost made me laugh. She sure wasn't a troubled leader.  
  
The others were all randomly spaced around our little cave, sleeping or humming. Kai was away.  
  
Amara sat up and yawned. She blinked and looked around. "Where's Kai- chan?"  
  
"Dunno," I shrugged. "She said she had to go get something."  
  
Shinji laughed. "Kai? She's probably picking flowers."  
  
"You know me well." Kai poked her head into the cave, and walked in. Soaking, and with an armful of flowers.  
  
We stared at her. "And what are those for?" Nichirasu asked.  
  
She didn't answer. She sat down, crossed legged and sat her bundle beside her. She took a yellow flower and began to grind it up on top on a small rock. She added a few more yellow flowers until she had kind of a purple/yellowish goop in her bowl shaped rock.  
  
Then she got up and carried the bowl over to Marco. She slopped some goop on his neck.  
  
"YAH! That's cold!"  
  
She paid him no mind, and kept sloshing. After awhile, she sat back on her heels. "There, that'll help."  
  
He looked at her suspiciously. "How do you know?"  
  
She merely shrugged and sat down. "These look just like some flowers I have.in my garden. My uncle sent the seeds from Greece. Weird, huh? Earth flowers on planet Megami?" She took a purple flower.  
  
"Does that one have healing properties too?" I asked curiously.  
  
She blinked. "No. They're just kinda cool lookin. Ya' want me to make ya a flower chain?"  
  
Amara giggled as Kai strung her flowers together. Marco looked at her oddly, and then began to smile.  
  
When the night became too dark to see anyone around me, I tried to get to sleep. I really don't think anyone did. I kept glancing at the mouth of the cave, half-fearing and half-expecting to see the jungle girl with her knife.  
  
Jake came and sat next to me.  
  
"Why did that girl hate us so much? Who was she? Are we on earth?" I whispered.  
  
Silence. "I don't know." He answered quietly.  
  
I sighed. "Well, this is going to be fun."  
  
Chapter 19  
  
Nichirasu  
  
It was almost dawn. Note the 'almost'. It was still like four freaking thirty in morning and black as black gets.  
  
And that's dark.  
  
I was just about to finally fall asleep. After all the nights troubled whisperings and the rain and Amara's snoring, it was finally quiet and I could finally sleep.  
  
Yeah, right. Why is the world so cruel?  
  
"KIAH!!!" A battle cry!  
  
Confusion! Confusion everywhere!  
  
A knife! A spear!  
  
Amara's strangled cry, "Morph!!!"  
  
They had attack us. Those stupid Princess Mononoke looking jungle people had jumped us!  
  
"Ax! Help us here!" Jake cried.  
  
"No! Don't hurt them!!"  
  
"Bail bail bail!!"  
  
We ran. I didn't know who was with me or who was fighting. All I knew was I was hauling some serious butt.  
  
Running, running blindly away from the cave. And I was morphing as I ran. Not a battle morph, and morph to get away.  
  
Also, I wasn't quite thinking straight at the time so I morphed a pretty stupid thing.  
  
Crow.  
  
My legs started to dwindle. No, no!! I needed those!  
  
Suddenly, "OOF!!"  
  
Something-someone- had jumped on top of me. I barely had to time to think, "Wha?" And then I went out cold.  
  
  
  
Chapter 20  
  
Marco  
  
It was total pandemonium in that cave. No time to morph, no where to run, nothing to do but use my own hands and feet against the psychotic Tarzan tribe. INSANE! TOTALLY INSANE! It was me, Kai, Jake, Lani, and Ax. The others had tried to clear a path for us as they bailed, but it was blocked.  
  
Half the Megami- well, I assumed these were the Megami- had followed them.  
  
And it was unbelievable how fast these guys were!! Their spears moved faster than Ax's own tail. SWISH! The girl who'd targeted me swung her spear. I dodged, dodged! Actually, she didn't really appear to be trying to hit me. More just trying to scare me.  
  
But she was a doing a hella good job.  
  
I glanced over at the others. Jake was shielding the girl Lani, who lay unconscious on the floor. Impossible to tell whether she'd been knocked out, or if she'd fainted.  
  
Ax was blocking spears and kicks with the flat side of his tail blade, but even he was tiring.  
  
My glance had cost me a precious moment in my battle. The girl jabbed her spear at me. I grabbed it with both hands and tried to shove it away. The tip of the spear centimeters from my chest.  
  
Before I knew what was happening, I was shoved into the cave wall. My head hit hard. Kai's painkillers had been working up till then, but that one hurt like a mother.  
  
Why.do people always have to knock me.out.?  
  
  
  
Chapter 21  
  
Ax  
  
The battle didn't last long. The Megami were fast, but of course, I was faster. I knocked them out with my blade and Kai helped me drag them to the mouth of the cave.  
  
You fight well, for a human. I complimented her.  
  
She turned a pinkish colour. "Ah, well. I take Karate." She hastily added, "And I'm only a brown belt, anyway."  
  
Of course I had no idea what she was talking about, so I merely nodded like I understood.  
  
Everyone else in the cave was unconscious. Prince Jake had been hit, trying to protect the fallen Lani. Marco had hit his head as Kai shoved him out of the way of a blow.  
  
"What do you think we should so, Axy-san?"  
  
I blinked at my new nickname. I follow prince Jake. Where ever he leads, I will go.  
  
She nodded solemnly. "Then perhaps we should wake him up."  
  
There was a large leaf sitting on a rock above Jake's head. It had been collecting water falling through a small crack in the roof of the cave. Kai dumped it on him.  
  
"YAH!" He sat up. "That's friggin freezing!"  
  
She knelt beside him and touched the bruise on the side of his head. He grimaced. She pressed her lips together. "You were really lucky, Jake- san. That almost hit your temple." Then she grinned. "You must have a luck spirit with ya. So what should we do now?"  
  
Prince Jake stared a her a moment. "Yeah. Um," Then he looked around. "Hey! Where is everyone?!"  
  
They fled, Prince Jake. Apparently half of us stayed and half of us left.  
  
"Okay, okay. But why is Marco laying on the ground over there?"  
  
Lani began to awaken. She groaned and sat up. "Oww.did somebody catch the license plate on that truck? Crazy Sunday drivers!!" She waved her fist in the air and fell back down.  
  
We stared at her. I was about to see if she'd hit her head, when I glanced back at Kai. Jake looked too. She looked very disturbed.  
  
Kai slid down into a kneel, and grabbed her head as if she was squeezing out demons.  
  
"K-kai?" Jake asked.  
  
"It's the others," Kai gasped. "I think.I think they got them."  
  
  
  
Chapter 22  
  
Amara  
  
It was dark. So dark. I couldn't see anything.well, that wasn't true. I could see things, but not really SEE them. They were like wisps.like foggy dreams, in fragments. And I would hear things.weird things.  
  
My mother's voice, "Amara, it's Akari.they just found out.she has cancer."  
  
I felt that I was in a cold, eerie hospital room.There was someone in the corner, crying. The bed was empty.  
  
I could just see Akari's smiling face."Amara-san!"  
  
I was dreaming of course. Dreaming a sad, sad, dream. Later I found out we'd been drugged.  
  
And suddenly, without warning-I woke up.  
  
Then I screamed. Because my hands and feet were bound tightly together with rope. I lay on a hard, dirty floor, tossed into the corner like a rag doll and I had a headache no asprin could ever cure.  
  
Also, there was a woman standing over me with a spear.  
  
She glared down at me. My throat tightened up as she slowly knelt in front of me. Her face changed to a look of indifference as she pressed the blade of her spear against my cheek.  
  
I clenched my fist as the blood trickled down my neck. "The sleep juice has worn off." She said, conversationally.  
  
Then she brought her face very close to mine as she whispered. "Get out."  
  
She stood, and kicked dirt in my eyes. I coughed and gagged. Tossing me one last cruel glance, she disappeared into the darkness.  
  
Tears streamed down my cheeks, trying to wash away the dust from my eyes.  
  
"Is anybody-cough-here?!" I cried. I desperately worm-walked forward, kicking up dust. "Hello!! Where is everybody??!"  
  
"Hey, hey! Chill down, Amara. We're all here,"  
  
I breathed a sigh of relief as the dust settled and I saw Rachel, Cassie, Nichirasu, Fi, Tobias, and Shinji around me in the dark.  
  
Fi gently cut the ropes that bound me as I stood. "Thanks, Fi." I breathed. "What happened here.?" I asked groggily.  
  
"They jumped us," Rachel said fiercely. "Got us and captured us, Mid- morph! They knocked us all out and dragged us here. Then they gave us some stuff to keep us out. But I don't get it. Why didn't they kill us?"  
  
"Maybe they don't want us dead, Rachel. They just want us to leave." Cassie said quietly.  
  
"And another thing! Where in all the name of all that is holy are we?! The Ellimist said he was taking us to a distant planet.not away to the jungle or whatever to save the Tarzan tribe!"  
  
"It doesn't matter where we are," Shinji broke in. "I'm sick of sitting around and talking. We have to do something. We stay, and fight, like the Ellimist told us to, or find someway to get our sorry boo-tays outta here."  
  
"Well, what are we supposed to do? Stay here and fight their war? They hate us, man. They don't want us here." Nichirasu said shrugging.  
  
And. Fi said. I am confused as to the striking resemblance between the Megami and humans. I wonder if we might still be on Earth?  
  
"No," I shook my head. "A lot of the greenery around here is definitely outta this world. And we've got to get out of this immediate area. Now. This is enemy territory here, so let's move."  
  
I looked at Cassie and then at Rachel. Tobias was perched on her shoulder. "I'm sorry you got separated from the rest of you're group. Some of our friends are gone too. But I hope that we'll all be able to work as a single team now. Not two."  
  
They nodded solemnly. Well, Tobias can't exactly nod, but you know what I mean.  
  
Further exploration proved that we were in a cave. Not a very deep one. Moments later, a small tribe of birds flew from the mouth, anxiously searching the trees for a form with a spear.and eyes that penetrated the soul.  
  
  
  
Chapter 23  
  
Jake  
  
I sat on top of the cave, watching daybreak. The sky's normal deep blue lightened over the rising sun, adding wisps of green and violet. Some fluffy white clouds seemed to open up to let the sun through.  
  
Somehow the beautiful sight didn't help my mood. I was starving, tired,  
  
confused and helpless. Stranded on a distant planet with dangerous natives- and half my friends were no where to be found.  
  
A crisp morning wind tousled my hair as I sighed.  
  
Marco climbed up and sat beside me.  
  
"How is she?" I asked, still watching the sun.  
  
He didn't have to ask who. "She's sleeping, but she's got a high fever. Lani says  
  
that happens sometimes. Kai, she lives in a Shinto Temple. She's a priestess. She reads fire and stuff.." He shook his head. "Weird, huh?"  
  
Marco isn't normally one to make small talk. I knew he wanted me to tell him what to do. They all did. They needed direction and I was supposed to give it to them. And I wanted to. I wanted to be a perfect leader with all the answers. I wanted to lead them.  
  
But I couldn't. So all I said was,  
  
"Let's go find some food."  
  
Marco and I clumsily climbed the trees, looking for anything edible. We didn't really have any morphs that handled trees really well. So we just stayed us.  
  
"Hey, man!" Marco called. I turned my head to see him.  
  
"What?"  
  
He picked a round fruit that looked vaguely like an orange. "Is this stuff food?"  
  
"Why don't you take a bite out of it and test it?" I said with a laugh.  
  
"Uh-uh. Nooo way. I'm not coming down with no alien jungle fever from eating poisonous fruit. I'll take some back to Kai and she can tell us whether it will kill us or not."  
  
We came back with armfuls of various fruits when it was probably around 8 o'clock standard earth time.  
  
What I saw wasn't really encouraging. Everyone was moping. Kai was curled up and breathing deeply, Lani was leaning against the wall, picking her nail polish, and even Ax looked down.  
  
"Well, this is a happy bunch," Marco said, handing a fruit to Lani.  
  
She took it halfheartedly and held it.  
  
"Hey, Ax? Wanna morph human and eat some of this, since there's no grass around here?"  
  
Yes, Prince Jake. I think I'll do that.  
  
We ate in silence. By then we were all beyond caring whether or not it was safe, we just wanted food.  
  
"I really want a cheeseburger right now." Lani said out of the blue. "I nice, big cheeseburger-with large fries. Or a nikkoman. Or pizza. Pepperoni. Hmm.stir fried chicken would be pretty good right now too."  
  
"Stop it!" Marco complained. "It's torture!"  
  
She smiled and closed her eyes. "Teriyaki! Hmmm breakfast burritos.Lasagna.Egg Rolls!"  
  
Marco groaned and fell back, clutching his stomach.  
  
I laughed as Ax ate the rind on his 'orange'.  
  
We weren't dead yet. We'd survive.  
  
  
  
Chapter 24  
  
Rachel  
  
As the sun slowly rose, we flew. I'm not sure what we were looking for, exactly. Somewhere to hide? The others? Or just fly around for a while and waste time? I don't think anyone knew. We just flew.  
  
And then it happened. We stumbled across a bowl-shaped valley. It took me by surprise. From afar, all we could see was tall trees. But once we got over the valley, we saw it for what it really was.  
  
A battle field.  
  
My god in heaven. Cassie choked out softly.  
  
The war the Ellimist spoke of? Shinji asked quietly.  
  
We saw it once we flew over the rim of a mountain. A massacre. The area was burned and littered with dead bodies. The air, thick with blood. Smoke from crashed battle craft rose in an eerie spiraling pattern amongst the aftermath. For miles, scattered around fallen trees and piled on top of each other, the bodies of warriors.  
  
Hork-Bajr. Taxxons. Megami.  
  
Dead.  
  
Everything was devastatingly quiet. Nothing moved. No one spoke. We merely glided silently over the gore. The battle seemed to have left no survivors.  
  
I've fought before. After all, this is a war. But what I'd seen was nothing compared to the hundreds of bodies I saw that day on the planet Megami.  
  
Cassie, what are you doing? I asked.  
  
She swooped down and landed, right smack dab in the middle of it all and began to demorph. Once she was done, I saw the tears.  
  
Oh.Cassie, Shinji whispered and followed her. One by one we dropped from the sky, the living in the field of the dead.  
  
Cassie stood over the body of a little Megami girl. She couldn't have been much older than we were. Streaks of dried blood scarred her unmoving body. The green of the grass around her was stained an ugly brown, the smell of the sweet flowers that once grew there, overpowered by the stench of death.  
  
But the horrific thing was that it was obvious how she'd died. Her own spear stuck out of her stomach, her little hands clutching the long wooden handle.  
  
I stared at her. She'd taken her own life. Why did you do it, Little girl? I asked silently. Were you the last one standing? Was it too much for you in the end? Could you not bare your friends and family, laying dead at your feet? Was the blood on your hands too heavy on your heart?  
  
"Coward," I spat. But my heart wasn't in it.  
  
I saw too much of myself in her face.  
  
  
  
Chapter 25  
  
Nichirasu  
  
Cassie seemed broken.  
  
When I first met her, I could almost tell a little about her. She was a kind person, not loud and reckless like Rachel. She was noble. Marco had called her the Tree Hugger. She cared. I cared a lot, too. But I guess I'm a guy. And us guys have a code, you know. The guy code. But don't tell anyone I told you. Cassie was crying. Personally, I kind of wish I could too.  
  
"Don't you get it?!" She screamed, her voice cracking. She spread her arms out. "It's over! They're gone! We're too late!"  
  
Rachel's expression was cold and hard. Her face was wet with perspiration, not tears. "The Ellimist would not have brought us here to see the corpses of a dead race. It's not over, Cassie. This is just a preview." Her voice rose. "We just saw a group of living Megami in that cave. Living enough to knock us out, tie us up, and leave us to die."  
  
I looked at Amara. She looked away so that I wouldn't see the pain on her face.  
  
"No whole race is the same, Rachel. You should know that by now. And it doesn't change the fact that these Megami, these people, these Hork- Bajr, these Taxxons are dead! Dead!"  
  
"Quiet!" Amara yelled suddenly. She looked from Cassie to Rachel. "We don't know what's going on here. We're all tired, and hungry, and lost and confused, but it doesn't mean we have to fight this way!" Violently tossing a piece of hair out of her face, she went on. "Let's get out of here. This isn't where we're supposed to be."  
  
I could see Rachel tense up. I knew what she was about to say. What right do you have to boss us around? What right?! That's what she would say. But she was interrupted before she could lash out.  
  
There was a flash of light, a painful flash of light. My mouth opened to cry out, but no noise came. We crashed to the ground, silently screaming in pain.  
  
When the light finally ended, a group of angry looking Megami came.  
  
One, who was apparently their leader, began giving sharp, quick orders to the rest. They tied ropes to our feet and dragged us away. "You should not have stayed." My Megami said.  
  
Great, I said silently. Thank you, life.  
  
  
  
Chapter 25  
  
Shinji  
  
Paralyzed!  
  
The Megami scouts apparently were sick of giving us warnings.  
  
Now they meant business.  
  
What to do?? From what I could see, the Megami were dragging us, and not very nicely either, deeper and deeper into the woods.  
  
I craned my neck as far as I could from the ground to look at Amara, but I saw nothing in her frozen face. But her eyes did show me something.  
  
Amara was pissed.  
  
And she was struggling, working like a madwoman to say something. But she lost that battle. Whatever advanced the technology the Megami had used on us, it had worked. We weren't goin nowhere.  
  
There was nothing to do but be dragged.  
  
And concentrate. Could I morph?  
  
The truth is, I'd been trying. Just to see if I could. But the Megami would notice, and mid-morph, I'd be helpless.  
  
Besides, I couldn't do it anyway.  
  
The situation did not look good.  
  
But you see, at this point in my life I've pretty much figured out how the world works. And at times like these-especially when the Ellimist is involved-either you figure out someway to save yourself, or someone saves you.  
  
"RRRRRROOOAAAAAAAAR!!"  
  
Whelp. There ya go.  
  
The tiger leaped! He knocked the Megami dragging me off her feet!  
  
A gorilla grabbed another and held him tightly with strong arms.  
  
A cheetah growled and barred it's teeth at the leader, extracting and retracting it's claws.  
  
A pair of Andalites freed the rest of our comrades, dragging us out of the way.  
  
The situation now under control, the panther calmly came out and sat on the leader.  
  
Now, we talk.  
  
What have you done to our friends? Jake demanded of their leader- whom Kai was sitting on.  
  
She made a growling sound and dug her knife into earth as if she was imagining digging it into *him*. "The Megami never reveal their secrets."  
  
You speak English now. Why? Jake brought his face very close to hers.  
  
She spat in his face.  
  
The tiger showed no reaction.  
  
Look. Let me just lay this out for you. We want no trouble with you. In fact, we're here to help you. And right now, I don't want to hurt you. All I want is for you to unfreeze my friends so we can get down to business.  
  
Then he open his big old tiger mouth reaaaaal wide in front of her face. Or I could bite your head off, if you like.  
  
She glared at him angrily, but looking defeated she gave the order to free us. Pointing a hand-held weapon at us, a Megami guy pushed the button.  
  
This time there was no flash, or even any sound. But all of a sudden I could move again. We got up, and looked at each other.  
  
Jake turned his head back to the leader. Now. Let's get to this, shall we?  
  
"What is this? An interrogation?" She growled. "I have done nothing wrong."  
  
You've taken my friends prisoner when they were doing nothing to harm you. Isn't that wrong?  
  
Her anger grew with each word she spoke. "They ARE harming us! They harm us by even BEING here! And you, you.shape shifter! You are endangering us as well, so why don't you all just go?! Go back to your happy planet and let the Megami take care of the Megami?!"  
  
We've been sent here to save you. To fight your war. We're very far from our homes and our families, and when we get here, what do you do? Send us away? No. We're staying right here.  
  
"We didn't ask for you to come!" She screamed in his face. "We ask no one for help! The Megami can fight this war themselves!" She tossed an evil glare Ax and Fi's way. "And you, mighty Andalites. You come in the company of these puny shape shifters? Surely you know how the Megami learned their lesson in trusting another race. From you! That's how we learned!"  
  
"The Andalites came. They said they were to help us. They said they wanted to save us, and defeat the Yeerks. But what did they do? They stayed in orbit in their mighty ships! Watching, watching us DIE!" She looked to the ground again. "For four months their ships stayed, not firing a single weapon. They gathered the information they needed for their reports and left. They never came back."  
  
  
  
Chapter 26  
  
Fi  
  
Her words stung in my hearts.  
  
The bitterness in her voice was unmistakable, but I also heard something else in her words. Sorrow. Sadness. Defeat.  
  
The Megami seemed to be a torn race. I could perceive it in her eyes. She spoke the truth.  
  
And so, I felt shame. Shame that 'the mighty Andalites' had yet again left a promise unfufilled. Like what happened to the Hork-Bajr. Like what was happening with the humans. And now this.  
  
I looked at Aximili with my main eyes. He looked at me, and looked away.  
  
Jake-san was silent for a few moments. Then very quietly he said, We are not here to observe this war. We are not here to watch you die. We're here to keep you from dying. This is not a military operation. There's no politics involved here. This is from us to you, Battle Senshi and Animorph to the Megami race. Accept our assistance, or we'll do it anyway. Your choice.  
  
The Megami leader stared at him for a long, hard time.  
  
At last, after an eternity, she said, "Get this thing off of me, and follow us."  
  
The others demorphed. The reunion was a happy one. Kai threw her arms around Amara-san as soon as she became human.  
  
"I thought you were dead!" Kai exclaimed.  
  
"Takes more than that to kill us," Amara said, grinning.  
  
"So, you're not dead, huh? Bummer." Nichirasu said, half-hugging Lani. She shoved him, but then hugged him back. "And you, Kai-chan. Figured you'd go all gung-ho and bust out the madd Karate skills on those jungle people." He put Kai in a headlock and she pretended to bite him.  
  
The group was together again.  
  
"What do we do now?" Shinji asked, messing up Lani's hair affectionately.  
  
Amara shook her head. "We go with them, naturally." She poked her head up and peeked over at the Animorphs. They were laughing and shoving each other as the Megami looked on.  
  
"And we hurry. I don't think these guys really want to agree with us. She gave in because you were sitting her," She said, laughing at Kai.  
  
And so, the Animorphs and the Battle Senshi followed the Megami along the forest floor. The Megami looked annoyed, and frustrated, as if they knew they could move much faster without the extra weight that was us.  
  
Of course, I was quite confident that I could beat a Megami in a sprint. But they were obviously tree-going folk, and the ground dampened their mood.  
  
"Where are you taking us?" Amara-san asked them.  
  
Not looking at her, the leader trudged on. "I am in no position to make a decision about what to do with you. So I'm taking you to my superior." Then, muttering, she added, "Imagine what he'll say when he hears I was beaten by a group of younglings and two Andalites."  
  
I saw Aximili's tail twitch slightly. Perhaps she's is not aware that us mighty Andalites can be quite formidable opponents, I told him privately with a small smile.  
  
Perhaps by the time this thing is over I will introduce her to my tail, He grumped.  
  
"And where exactly is this superior of yours?" Prince Jake demanded.  
  
She tossed him a look of disdain and said, "Quiet. You're lucky you're not in shackles."  
  
He opened his mouth to say something but Kai put her hand on his shoulder.  
  
"What's your name?" Kai asked the woman.  
  
She hesitated. "Hanukt."  
  
"That's a slinksta-cool name," Kai remarked.  
  
Hanukt looked at her reproachfully. "And what is your name, youngling from another world?"  
  
"Kai. Nice to meet you." Kai grinned her huge, ear-to-ear grin.  
  
Hanukt stumbled forward. We all looked at her questioningly. "What?" Jake asked.  
  
"Nothing. Just.nothing." She stared at Kai a moment, and then walked on.  
  
Finally, the trees ended right up against an enormous stone wall, covered in wet green vines and flowers. So tall, it seemed to touch the heavens. The wall extended forever in either direction, impossibly large, and if I looked up with my stalk eyes, I could barely make out the thin line of sky between the wall and the trees.  
  
A few drops of water landed on my face.  
  
"Well, this is.big." Marco said. "Now what?"  
  
The Hanukt and her Megami looked at him as if he were the stupidest creature ever created, walked right up the wall and began to push.  
  
We stared in awe as the stone gave way, proving itself to actually be a door. The humans shielded their eyes from a blinding light, now spilling over us from beyond the wall. After out eyes adjusted, the Megami gestured to the amazing city that lay before us.  
  
"Well?" Hanukt said expectantly.  
  
"Dude." Kai said.  
  
"Whoa." Tobias said.  
  
"We didn't come here to look at it, Tobias, move your butt!" Rachel shoved him forward through the door and we all followed close behind.  
  
A vast city of stone! Megami everywhere, milling about in large groups, were all around us. The buildings were huge and unbelievably complicated in design.  
  
I couldn't help but stop and stare at the beautiful mosaics, the sparkling water fountains, the elaborate architecture-even as the Megami shoved and pulled me along towards some vague destination.  
  
It was so bright here, in contrast to the gloomy dark of the forest. Everything was brightly coloured, painted so ridiculously that it almost hurt to look at it.  
  
"Where.Where are we?" Amara asked Hanukt.  
  
"The City of Dreams," She said impatiently, grabbing her arm and dragging her forward. "The only real city on this planet. We are forest people, not city dwellers. This is the political capitol of the world. Where the emperor lives."  
  
"And we're going to meet this emperor?" Jake asked.  
  
"He's the only person who I can think of to give you to."  
  
We arrived at the base of temple. The giant pillars the held up the roof seemed very far away, since it sat on a hill of steps. Many steps. A lot of steps.  
  
The humans stared upward, open mouthed.  
  
"And we're supposed to climb this thing?" Marco asked.  
  
Hanukt blinked. "Yes." Then she and her scouts ran up the stairs, zipping up as if they did it everyday. Which I suppose they did.  
  
"I knew there was a downside to this place," Nichirasu grumbled. "Actual physical effort."  
  
  
  
Chapter 27  
  
Marco  
  
After reaching the top of that monster staircase, I resolved that I definitely needed to start working out.  
  
Anyway, we dragged our sorry butts after the lunatic warriors of the slinksta-cool Hanukt down a loooong old hallway. Then we went through a huge doorway, and into the throne room of the Emperor.  
  
I saw the Megami instantly stand up straighter. The walked to the emperors throne and knelt. Hanukt stood.  
  
"This is so weird," Cassie whispered. "They look like us, they act like us, well, a little, and their culture is so much the same as ours. How can that be?"  
  
The emperor was a youngish man, who wore green robes and a lot of bracelets. He held a cepter that doubled as a spear.  
  
Hanukt spoke quietly to the emperor. Incoming looks. So not good.  
  
"Ah. So," The Emperor said, crossing his ankles. "You have come to play hero and save us?"  
  
Amara and Jake looked at each other. Jake made a 'go right ahead' gesture with his hand.  
  
"You might say that, sir." She said flatly.  
  
The Emperor twitched slightly. "And where, pray, do you hail from, strangers?"  
  
Amara glanced at Jake again. Jake looked at Marco. Marco grinned. "Planet Bob, emperor. We humbly come to your planet as crew of the starship enterprise."  
  
"Ah." The Emperor said, rolling his eyes. "Earth. Well, that should be quite obvious. And you bring your Andalite friends to.what? Intimidate us? Anger us?"  
  
"Wait, wait, wait. Back up. You how do you know so much about Earth?" Cassie asked, surprised.  
  
He looked at her. "That *would* make sense, it being our home planet and all."  
  
That threw us all off for a second there, I guess. I of course, was forced to break the silence with an intelligent and thought out response. "Say what??"  
  
The Emperor laughed and big, loud, swollen headed laugh. "You must be joking. A blind man could tell we were the same species."  
  
"But.ah." Amara started. She looked at Jake pleadingly.  
  
"Who.who are you people??" Jake asked, a huge help as always. "Humans have never left Earth to go live on other.planets.have they? We?"  
  
"What kind of history do they teach Earth children in school these days?" He asked hotly. "Don't you know of the lost city of Atlantis?"  
  
Another pause.  
  
"Say WHAT???"  
  
Me, of course.  
  
"Oooooh, no." Lani stepped backwards, throwing her hands above her head. "This is waaaay beyond.beyond.normal. This is just plain weird, and I will not have any part of it. At-freaking-lantians?? Nope, not me, no way. Kai, pinch me."  
  
Kai did.  
  
"Ow!"  
  
"Okay, okay." Jake said, rubbing his temples again. "I'll accept that. I can see where this goes. You.Atlantians.Megami.whatever. Your continent is sinking, you all fly away in your space ship and set up shop on a new planet. Okay. Sure."  
  
"Well, what did you expect us to do?" The emperor asked reasonably.  
  
Another pause.  
  
"Why didn't you just like.move to Egypt or something?" Nichirasu cried.  
  
"Earth was already becoming crowded. Our secluded island was the only way to keep us separate from the other.slightly less advanced humans. We prefer to remain that way."  
  
"How nice." Rachel commented, rolling her eyes.  
  
"Fine. Okay. We are but poor, dumb, earth people. But we've come to help you so why can't you let us?" Amara demanded.  
  
The Emperor snorted. "What help would you be?"  
  
Hanukt whispered something to him.  
  
The Emperor stiffened. "What?"  
  
"Also sir.they seem to be. Shape shifters, sir." She said a little louder.  
  
Jake had a small smile. "Guys, why don't we demonstrate?"  
  
Without saying another word, we all went battle morph. The look on the Emperors face as we twisted, our bones crunching, changing into veerry dangerous animals.  
  
There we sat, one mean gang of mother nature.  
  
The emperor tried his best to look unimpressed. "Oh. Well. Then. Yes, Hanukt, show them the map and then.well, please escort these uh.Earthlings.to uh basic combat training."  
  
  
  
Chapter 28  
  
Rachel  
  
"If you're going to fight in this war, you're going to have to get a few things straight,"  
  
Hanukt opened up a rough map of the area and slammed it onto the table.  
  
"The blue marks are the areas taken by the Yeerks. The resistance is in red." She traced a red dotted line with her finger. "This is the path our next battle will take. We will destroy their pool, here, move on to their weapons arsenal, and finally sneak a surprise attack on their camps."  
  
Jake let out a low whistle.  
  
"Drastic, isn't it?" Hanukt said, nodding. "The war has gone on a long time. Too long. We're going to end this. And we will win."  
  
A desperate move, Fi commented. Are you sure it's wise?  
  
"Many will die. But we will win." She responded firmly.  
  
"What makes you so sure?" Marco asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
She smiled smugly. "The Megami have a few tricks our sleeves. Add you as our final secret weapon on the ground and we can't lose. Besides, it's been prophesized."  
  
Amara and Jake looked like they'd had a ten ton responsibility brick dropped on their heads. The last thing they needed more people to depend on them. Whether it had been prophesized or not.  
  
"So are we in agreement?" The emperor asked impatiently.  
  
Cassie looked justifiably uncomfortable, but she said nothing. To an extent I was glad. No happy talk before we go into battle.  
  
On the other hand, it kind of worried me that Cassie hadn't objected the ambush. Were her morals beginning to bend?  
  
Jake and Amara agreed.  
  
We all agreed.  
  
All we needed was one more thing to make the decision complete.  
  
"Let's do it!!" I said enthusiastically.  
  
And we did.  
  
"I am to escort you to your basic combat training," Hanukt repeated, angrily stomping down the hallway. "Like I don't have anything else important to do, I have to show these Earth Cadets how to blow things up!" She said, completely ignoring the fact that we could hear every word.  
  
We rounded a corner and slid down a fireman's pole type deal.  
  
"Hey, we're plenty experienced in the butt-kicking department!" Lani said defensively.  
  
"I understand that, but it's not going to be enough." Hanukt led the team out of the city of dreams and back into the forest.  
  
She jumped up into the trees like a pro, hopping from tree to tree as we followed clumsily on the ground.  
  
"Any.reason.why we're..running??!" Marco panted.  
  
"Something's going to happen real soon, kiddies," She called over her shoulder. "It's my job to get you ready before then. And during a war- time is of the essence."  
  
Nichirasu rolled his eyes. "I thought stupid cliches belonged to Earthers only."  
  
I grinned in excitement. Finally, after all this waiting around, there was gonna be some action.  
  
  
  
Chapter 29  
  
Kai  
  
"Here we are!" Hanukt announced.  
  
'Here', was neat little village in the forest. It was totally abuzz with people-running around, always in a hurry. Some were carrying bundles of weapons, some were juggling big buckets of water, and others had medical supplies.  
  
This was a war camp.  
  
I watched them work in awe as Hanukt led us to our squad leaders. I could immediately that the Megami did things the old way-with swords, spears, knives, and martial art like combat. But then they also balanced it all out with their advanced weaponry: guns, lasers, night vision goggles.the works!  
  
I'll tell ya, there's nothing weirder than a jungle dwelling tribes person wielding a laser beam.  
  
We met up with our instructors, who would apparently teach us the basics of war. Pish. I don't know about the others, but I was a bit offended. I has always felt that we were quite capable of war tactics and so forth. What else could we possibly need to know?  
  
  
  
Chapter 30  
  
Lani  
  
BOOM!  
  
"YEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!"  
  
BOOM!  
  
"EEEEEEEEEEEEE-"  
  
BOOM!  
  
"Okay, okay! Stop the blowing up of the stuff and the explosions and the yeah!" I said intelligently.  
  
Well, my ears we practically exploding. My thoughts were not collected properly. Kamipetra-one of our teachers- was teaching us how to use the coconut explosives.  
  
Yes. Coconut Explosives.  
  
Exploding coconuts.  
  
Coconuts exploding.  
  
Anyway, they look like coconuts but they're bombs, okay? Let's move on.  
  
We crouched on top of a cliff, each holding a cocobomb. Cub-one of the younger Megami- would throw rocks and things into the air from the ground, and we would try to hit these targets with our bombs. It was VERY difficult to get the timing right. You had to pull out the little string thingie and then hurl it at the target. Sometimes it exploded before it got there, and sometimes it didn't explode till it hit the ground, and Cub ran for his life.  
  
After our fun explosives training, it was on to combat tactics. Another Megami explained the basics of Guerrilla warfare. Every now and then Jake or Amara would nod, and Cassie would shudder. Personally, I didn't like it either.  
  
This was not working. These Megami were trying to change us, make us part of their army. We weren't there as recruits, we WERE an army. We liked how we worked. Nobody was happy with our new management, or our new squad members. I even saw Kai twitch once and a while.  
  
Later, Cub taught us how to navigate using the stars and constellations of the Megami night skies. We also learned the landmarks: rocks, certain trees, mountains, stuff like that.  
  
Some of the things we were learning were useful, but others seemed pointless. When would we even be using explosives? We were the animal morphers the Emperor was so impressed by! Weren't we going to morph in battle?  
  
  
  
That night, we camped on a hill above the village, in our own special place. Hanukt and the rest left us for the evening. They had important business to attend too, apparently. But before they left they warned us, that we might be awakened in the night. A battle could take place at any time.  
  
The grass where I sat was wet and cool, and the temperature was perfect, but I still couldn't sleep. How could I? At any moment, we could get snatched away from our slumber, and onto the warfront.  
  
"This sucks," Amara said.  
  
I guess I wasn't the only one still awake.  
  
She sat up on her little grass woven blanket. "We are the Animorphs and the Battle Senshi. That's it. We work alone and we do things our way. What are they trying to do, anyway? Mess up all the team morale I've built? Screw up the way we work?"  
  
"It may be the best way," Jake pointed out, still looking up at the stars.  
  
"Bull crap," Marco said. "I say we break off and do things our way. We don't need no coconut bombs! We GOT all the firepower we need!"  
  
"Will our morphs really work in open battle?" Rachel speculated.  
  
What kind of warfare is this, anyway? Fi spoke up. Surely not grounded battles. There must be airial combat as well as in space,  
  
We all sighed. "So many questions," Kai said. "And like no answers. This does suck."  
  
"Well," I began. "I'm not gonna TAKE it anymore. I don't know about you, but I for one am not the kind of girl that gets pushed around. Tomorrow, tell the Emperor whats-his-name to forget it. Count me out of their army, I'm a one woman army!"  
  
"I hate to say it, but I totally agree with Lani. We can handle ourselves." Nichirasu stood up. "Who's with me?"  
  
The Battle Senshi stood, one by one.  
  
Amara looked down on the Animorphs. "Well?"  
  
Rachel and Cassie glanced at each other.  
  
Just then, Kai let out a yelp. "What is it, Kai-chan??" Shinji asked.  
  
"Ack.that!!" She pointed upward. A huge, glowing, ball of red light was falling from the sky.  
  
"What the..?" Marco began.  
  
It landed in the middle of the Megami village. Seconds later, an ear shattering boom was heard through out the area, and the Animorphs and battle Senshi were blown into the trees.  
  
Chapter 31  
  
Nichirasu  
  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" I screamed.  
  
The shockwave blew me about 50 yards from where I'd been standing, and right into a tree. I think I blanked out there for a couple minutes, but when I woke up, the Megami village was in flames. And as far as I could tell..we'd been the only survivors.  
  
Cassie groaned and sat up, rubbing her head. "What.happened? Oh, god."  
  
Jake climbed down off the rock he'd be thrown against, and put his hand on her shoulder.  
  
We stared in silence at the burning settlement.  
  
Kai stuck her chin up in the air as lip started quivering. Shinji wrapped her in a hug.  
  
Amara looked to the sky, steadying her breath. She turned to Fi and Ax. "What. do you call that?"  
  
I believe it was a concentrated energy ball. Very primitive. If I were the Megami, I would be very insulted. Ax replied. His words were lighthearted, but his voice was shaky.  
  
"Is it safe to say every war village in the area should be expecting an Energy Ball?"  
  
Yes, Amara-san. Fi said gravely.  
  
"We have to warn them." Kai said firmly.  
  
"We'll break off into teams, and go in every direction. Choose the fastest morph you have." Jake said, taking Cassie's hand. "We'll go two and two, okay? Tobias and Rachel, Me and Ax."  
  
"Fi, you're with me." Amara broke in. "Shinji, you go ahead and go with Cassie, okay? Nichirasu with Lani and Kai.go with Marco." She finished. "Jake, you and Ax, hurry, go warn the emperor."  
  
"Let's do this, people. Everybody meet back at the city ASAP." Jake dropped to his knees and began to morph Cheetah.  
  
Chapter 32  
  
Marco  
  
I didn't really have any fast morphs. So I followed suit and morphed Cheetah. They're not great for distances, but man those things are fast.  
  
Kai and I went South. Or at least, I think it was south.  
  
Anyway, Kai and I ran through the forest, looking for any sign of Megami. As we ran, we sent out Thought Speak messages.  
  
Megami! Please be careful! You are under attack by Yeerk forces!! Your villages may be targeted for destruction!! I said formally.  
  
Yeah so watch you're butts, okay??? Kai continued.  
  
Evaaaaacuate!! I finished.  
  
We successfully evacuated two war villages before the Energy Balls hit them. They managed to save most of their supplies and provisions.  
  
No need to thank us, we're simply teenaged super heroes doing our jobs. I said humbly.  
  
Kai began to sing the teenaged mutant ninja turtles theme song.  
  
Do you watch that show still, too? I asked, laughing.  
  
Kai chuckled. Maaaybe. You know, it was an Anime before it came to America. The american cartoon rocked too.  
  
We hurried back in the direction we came from, heading towards the city of dreams. The Megami no longer felt the need to stay concealed in the shadows of the forest. We bumped into at least five different groups of them, hurrying off someplace or another.  
  
When we finally reached the city, the door was wide open, so we ran right in.  
  
"Kai! Marco!" Jake trotted over to us, followed by Ax.  
  
Mission accomplished. Now what? I asked.  
  
"The Megami are under attack!! I think this is the big one, guys. The military is gearing up for the biggest battle ever." He jerked his head towards an armada of heavily armed hover crafts, ready for lift off. In front of them, the Megami army. All decked out in war paint and carrying machine guns.  
  
Where are the others? Kai asked, beginning to demorph.  
  
Fi was asked to pilot a ship. They were very impressed with her reflexes. Ax replied.  
  
"Amara, Cassie and Shinji are helping load up the Coconut bombs. The rest are on their way."  
  
Kai nodded sadly. "We're not going to be together, huh?"  
  
"I'll do my best to make sure we'll all be fighting side by side. I think they want us morph capable folks to stay on the ground for now. Hanukt showed me their plan for tonight. It's pretty cool, I think it's gonna work." Jake said confidently.  
  
"Axy-chan, you gonna pilot a ship or stay with us?" Asked the only person to ever call the Ax-man, 'Axy-chan.'  
  
I will go where prince Jake leads, He said solemnly.  
  
Count on Ax to stay Mr. Reliable when the world around you is in chaos.  
  
I demorphed back into my cute, loveable self, and stretched. "This is gonna be a long night, isn't it big Jake?"  
  
"A loooooong night." Jake confirmed.  
  
  
  
Chapter 33  
  
Amara  
  
"All set!" I called down to the Megami pilot. "Coconuts are loaded and ready for action!"  
  
I sat back on my heels and looked at Shinji and Cassie. "Do you realize how odd that sounds?"  
  
They laughed.  
  
We were currently stationed on a Megami hover craft. It was technically a bomber plane. It had no walls on two sides, allowing the bomber to drop bombs on the targets below. We'd loaded up two planes already, and hopped off to do our third.  
  
"After we're done here, they want us all to load up and do this, you know. Then we're suppose to morph and finish the night off combat style. On the ground we will mainly be fighting Taxxons and HorkBajr.I think." I told them. Cassie looked very sad. I stopped walking, turned around and hugged her. "I'm sorry Cassie-chan. I don't want to do it either."  
  
"I know.it's just.you know." She took a deep breath and let me go. "It'll be okay. It's still just a little weird for me, that's all."  
  
Shinji sighed. "That's why I stick to video games. Nobody gets hurt in video games."  
  
"Welllllll in you're case Shinji-san, playing video games has got to do some serious damage to your Ego." I said, grinning.  
  
Cassie laughed and Shinji blushed. "Shut up," He said good-naturedly.  
  
After we'd armed about ten ships with Coconuts, the rest of our teams jogged on over.  
  
"Hey, guys. Everybody know what we have to do?" I asked.  
  
Everyone nodded.  
  
Marco, Nichirasu, Kai, Lani, Shinji, Rachel, Cassie, Tobias, Ax, Jake and I. It brought a tear to my eye that Fi wasn't there to join us. I stood up on a crate. "Okay guys, tonight is a big night. This is why we came here. We might not have had a good start to our time here, but we're gonna tough it out and do what we came to do. We're all still young. We've got a lot of life left to live, and I don't want any of you guys to go play hero and get yourselves killed." I looked every one of them in the eye and smiled. I grabbed Jake and pulled him up on top of the crate with me. "What do you say, Jake? How bout a name change? I was thinking, BattleMorphz? How bout AniSenshi?"  
  
He slowly showed a smile that turned into a grin. "BattleMorphs. I like it."  
  
Just then a hover craft approached us. I could just barely make out the purple furred pilot.  
  
Fi pressed the thought speak Amplifier button on her adapted console. I like to, Amara-san. I believe it is.how you say, Time to kick some Butt?  
  
Well, right then I felt like I was on top of the world. I grinned and gave Fi the thumbs up sign.  
  
Every one turned and looked expectantly at Rachel.  
  
She held her head high and proudly said, "Let's do it!"  
  
  
  
Chapter 34  
  
Jake  
  
  
  
In the high atmosphere, we had laser armed Megami battling it out with Dracon Beam armed Yeerks. In space, we had The Blade Ship vs. The Atlantis, (named respectively for the Megami's previous residence.)  
  
In the low atmosphere, we had the Megami hover craft vs. bug fighters, and below them there was us, bombing and sucessfully destroyed buildings and war camps containing Yeerk supplies. Taxxons and Hork-Bajr were battling the well trained martial artist Megami on the ground.  
  
It was the battle to end all battles.  
  
And all the while, I just hoped that The Ellimist was watching. And hoped he was enjoying it.  
  
I sat next to Cassie on Bomber number 1, along with Amara and Ax. Shinji, Tobias, Nichirasu, and Lani occupied Bomber number 2, and Marco, Kai, and Rachel were the crew of bomber number 3.  
  
Every now and then we'd pass each other, and make sure everybody still had plenty of coconuts.  
  
"THIS. IS. INSAAAAAAAANE!!" Marco screamed and we passed.  
  
I laughed and shook my head.  
  
Just then, our craft shook violently and tipped to one side. Cassie YELPED and I grabbed on to her. Amara and Ax held on to the their hand holds for dear life.  
  
"We've been hit!" The Megami pilot announced gravely.  
  
Down, down, down we fell..  
  
  
  
Marco  
  
"JAAAKE!" Rachel cried.  
  
"What about Jake?!" I asked, hastily dropping a coconut.  
  
"His bomber's been hit!" Kai cried.  
  
I turned just in time to see their craft crash into the dirt, hundreds of yards below us.  
  
"KUSO!" Kai cursed loudly. I'd have to ask her what that meant later.  
  
Just then, our ship tipped, shook, and shook again. And then we were falling.  
  
I yelped. I'd lost my grip and I was being sucked out of the fighter. Kai dove and wrapped her arms around my waist, yanking me back up. Rachel grabbed her ankles and helped us back in.  
  
"You okay?" Rachel asked.  
  
I shook my head and Kai brushed my hair out of my eyes before letting go.  
  
"Bug Fighter!" The Megami pilot yelled over his shoulder. "We just got hit by a Dracon beam!"  
  
Long night.  
  
And getting longer.  
  
Rachel  
  
"Why that sneaky dirty little." I clenched my teeth and grabbed a hand held laser gun. The bug fighters had dropped from above and began shooting down bomber planes, even firing at the ground at the Megami bases. I wasn't going to have that.  
  
"Rachel-san, what are you doing?" Kai asked, trying to regrip her handhold, but she was slipping.  
  
We were falling fast, but I could still get him, probably. I crawled on top of our ship, and looking up, I could see that ugly little fighter that'd just shot my cousin and my best friend out of the sky. That just shot US out of the sky.  
  
I level my beam right at it and fired.  
  
TSSEEEWWWWWW!  
  
TSSEEWTSEWTSEW!  
  
ZAP! The fighter fell outta the sky, whirling out of control and smashing into the trees.  
  
"HA!" I cried, just as we hit the ground.  
  
  
  
Tobias  
  
"Marco! RACHEL!" I cried.  
  
Nichirasu clenched his fists. "Okay, that's it, they are goin DOWN." He crawled into the cockpit and tapped the pilot on the shoulder. "We're landing now. Thank you."  
  
The ground was chaos. Lasers zapping the ground everywhere you stepped, Taxxons eating other Taxxons, Megami in slashing contests with Hork Bajir...it was horrible.  
  
But I didn't care right then. What I cared about was Rachel.  
  
The second we touched ground I was up and running towards Bomber Number 3. Smoke was swirling up from the wreckage. Sparks flying.  
  
"Rachel!" I called. I coughed and covered my mouth with my sleeve. "Rachel!"  
  
Lani and Shinji ran towards bomber number one, but Nichirasu followed me.  
  
The smoke cleared. But what I saw wasn't Rachel. Through the burning wreckage, I saw Kai, trapped. She was half stuck under a huge piece of twisted debris, her torso free but her legs pinned. Marco was knelt beside her, trying to pull her out.  
  
"Kai-chan!!" Nichirasu cried, pushing past me and running to Kai's aid.  
  
Nichirasu  
  
Tobias ran off to the other side of the wreck to find Rachel. I tried to help lift the craft off of Kai. "Hang on, Kai-chan."  
  
She squeezed her eyes shut. She looked like she was in tremendous pain.  
  
Marco looked down at her. "Kai."  
  
"Kai, can you morph? Are you too weak?" I asked frantically.  
  
She looked up at me. "Nichirasu-san." She turned her eyes back to Marco. "Marco-san." She gulped. "Protect.Amara-san.Jake."  
  
"Kai, morph! Please! Morph elephant or something, push this thing off of you!" I begged.  
  
"Go, go.I'll be okay." She said, making a weak shooing motion with her hand. "You've got a job to do. Go on.I'll be right there."  
  
Just then Jake ran over, Cassie on his arm, followed by Ax and Lani.  
  
"OmigodKai." Cassie gasped.  
  
Lani ran over and knelt next to Marco, putting her hand on his shoulder. Her eyes were watering.  
  
Jake trotted over. "Tell her to morph something big. She'll be okay. Keep her talking. Where are Rachel and Tobias?"  
  
Amara came up. "I can't find them anywhere. Oh god, Kai-chan!"  
  
"Gah.go on now, guys.I said I'll be right there. Go.kick Yeerk butt for me, ne?" Kai said weakly, shifting a little bit.  
  
Everyone reluctantly looked at Jake and Amara.  
  
Jake hesitated. "She's right guys, let's go. Hurry, Kai." His eyes got serious. "Time to morph."  
  
Chapter 35  
  
Ax  
  
The others had all morphed their various battle morphs, and were now fighting along side the Megami army.  
  
I FWAPPED my tail, and snapped a taxxon in half. His insides spilled out on the Megami grass, instantly triggering a feeding frenzy.  
  
Another opening! Fwapp, fwapp!  
  
Though even in the heat of the battle, everything my training had prepared me for, my mind was elsewhere. The only thought that continued to cross my mind was, 'Was Fi alright?'  
  
  
  
Chapter 36  
  
Fi  
  
ZAP!  
  
AHHHHH! I cried as I tipped my pod to avoid getting hit by a Dracon.  
  
ZAPZAPZAP! There was a persistent little Yeerk on me and he just wouldn't quit! I was running now, I didn't have any guns left. My only defense were some weak lasers attached to the front of the pod.  
  
I dropped low, close to the ground, the Bug Fighter right on my tail.  
  
ZAP! TSEWWW!  
  
AHHRRG! I'm hit! I spiraled in the air, trying to gain control of my fighter. I nearly crashed into another Megami ship, but pulled up just in time. I hit the radio button.  
  
Sorry, friend! I cried frantically.  
  
No problem, It was a young Megami female. May the gods protect you. Her ship rose above me, running from her own bug fighter.  
  
Likewise, I replied breathlessly.  
  
I still had a bug after me. I'd finally gotten myself stabilized, at least.  
  
I blew directly over the Bombers that my friends were occupying, just in time to see them shot out of the sky by the dirty little Yeerk who'd been harassing me all evening.  
  
Amara-san! Aximili! Oh that tears it, I growled.  
  
I hit the maximum drive button, made sure the path was clear and blew forward, nearly being knocked of my hooves by the velocity. The bug pursued, firing at me all the way.  
  
Shields up, running, maximum protection, I told the computer. This bugger's going to wish he had never heard the name Filara-Etragurj- Shremtul.  
  
I slammed the 'brakes' of the fighter, stopping myself in mid air. The Bug didn't have the ability to stop so quickly. I saluted the poor fellow as he slammed into the high power Megami shield that protected me. I got thrown forward into my control panel, and watched as the debris flew past me.  
  
WHOO! Take THAT, parasite scum!  
  
I think Aximili would have told me that I have spent too much time around humans if he had heard me say that.  
  
  
  
Chapter 37  
  
Tobias  
  
"Rachel!" I screamed. I coughed and stumbled through the smoke. I was convinced if I called out her name enough I could find her.  
  
"Tobias!"  
  
I have never in my life taken such joy in hearing my name. I ran over to her side and knelt by her, wrapping her in a tight hug. "There you are."  
  
"Ouch, ouch, Tobias watch it! I'm bleeding." She pulled away from me and I saw the nasty gash on her forehead.  
  
"Ouch.are you okay? What were you doing, I saw you there on top of the bomber. You must have fallen off and hit your head. You could have been a grease spot on the ground right now!"  
  
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. It'll heal when I morph. I just climbed up there to shoot down some punk Yeerk who nearly killed us all. Are we ready or what?" She grinned.  
  
I grinned back. "Yeah. Let's do it."  
  
  
  
Chapter 38  
  
Ax  
  
We had hurled ourselves past the first wave of Hork-Bajr, slamming right into a wall of Taxxons. The Megami were practically flying, dodging so quickly they rivaled with the Andalite tail.  
  
Rachel and Tobias joined the fight.  
  
Wooooohoooo! The Cavalry's here! She announced, roaring her grizzly bear roar.  
  
Nice to see you again Xena. Kai with you? Marco asked, slamming a huge gorilla fist into a Taxxon's gut.  
  
What? Tobias asked in confusion. She's not with you?  
  
Marco was about to reply, but he engaged himself combat with a Hork- Bajr warrior.  
  
"ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRR!" Prince Jake's war cry resounded throughout the valley.  
  
Smoke filled my nostrils and made my eyes water. A Hork-Bajr's elbow blade slashed my chest, and I cried out.  
  
Ax, you okay? Shinji asked, slicing a Taxxon with his panther's claws.  
  
Yes, I am alright. I gasped.  
  
For what seemed to last an eternity, we fought. Of all the battles I have ever lived through, none were so bloody, so viscous. And these Megami that fought beside me, these distant relatives of humans, were just as noble and determined as my human friends. They were defending their homes and their families. Their planet. And we were helping them. And as horrible as war is, it felt good.  
  
One day, I hope that Andalites will get the chance to study the Megami species. My human friends have told me about certain tribes of forest dwelling humans that fight with spears and daggers. I don't know if they move with the fluent agility of the Megami. Their weapons seemed to meld with their arms. They moved fast, too fast, for their opponents to see. They sliced right through the Taxxons, ripped straight through the Hork- Bajr.  
  
But still we tired. We battled on, and pushed our way through but we were weakening. We needed help.  
  
Somehow, time passed and I knew we were losing. From my isolated point on the ground, I felt that we had been pushed back impossibly far. In space, could The Atlantis defeat the infamous Blade Ship? Had the Megami Hover Crafts been fairly matched with the Yeerk Bug Fighters? I couldn't tell. But from deep inside, I remembered Hanukt's smug words. They echoed in my brain.  
  
"..The Megami have a few tricks up our sleeves.Besides, it's been prophesized."  
  
  
  
Chapter 39  
  
Kai  
  
Everything was blurry. So blurry.  
  
My head was swimming. I don't think I've ever been able to truly say that before. My head was.it was almost like it was floating in the space above my neck, not actually attached. I had heard what my friends had said, and it had taken all my effort to utter the comforting words I had told them. But deep inside I knew there was something terribly wrong.  
  
My insides felt wrong. They had been squished under the remains of the fighter. I couldn't think straight. I knew I had to morph. I knew I had to. But I just couldn't do it. I couldn't stay focused long enough. I could hear my friends. Heard Marco ask Tobias if I was with him.  
  
Wisps of things kept floating up in my head. Dream-like images. Like they weren't really there. Things from my life mostly. But other things. Weirder things.  
  
Amara has always said I have an uncanny ability to sense things. Know things. (Then why am I failing Algebra? I would always respond.) But now, this wasn't like that tickling sensation in the back of my neck when I know things I should not know. This. This was something huge. An enormous, gigantic, undeniable and yet completely insane, idea that stuck out in my head.  
  
I had to save them. I had to save them all.  
  
And for some reason, I knew exactly what to do.  
  
Fi  
  
I screamed an Andalite curse, followed by a string of curse words I'd picked up from Nichirasu. My screen was blinking at me in bright red letters. The basic idea was that I had been hit and I might as well say my prayers to the gods. My little ship was spiraling out of control, down down down towards the Megami planet. It reminded of the day I crashed into a planet not so different from the one I was about to meet. I had run away from home. I'd seen earth on a star chart, it seemed far away enough. I didn't want to be a scientist. I wanted to be in the military. My father wouldn't allow it, couldn't I be a morph dancer like my sister? Crazy talk.so I ran away. Stole the fighter, stowed away on the dome ship.Only this time, as I crashed, would there be five brave soon to be friends to pull me from the wreckage? Unlikely.  
  
Jake  
  
I was bleeding. I was bleeding bad. The others we injured too. I heard their poorly concealed cries of pain. There we explosions everywhere. Above. Around. The air was thick with the smell of blood. I stumbled, and right then I knew if I survived this mess, I was going to have nightmares for the rest of my life. My vision began to run together. I looked up just in time to see a towering Hork-Bajr aim his elbow blade at my head.  
  
God protect us, I whispered. Ellimist, if you really are there, watching, do something, for god's sake do SOMETHING!  
  
  
  
Kai  
  
Jake.I hear you, Jake.  
  
For a moment time froze. Everything stopped. The battle. The people. The flying debris. All sound silenced. The smells stopped. The very world stopped spinning. In space, the lasers halted. Stopped before they reached their targets. Fi's fighter paused it's mad spiral towards doom.  
  
All this I saw through eyes not my own. I opened my eyes. I was no longer crushed. I was floating in the same glowing white space where the Ellimist always met us.  
  
But the person I saw before me was not the Ellimist. I don't know who she was. An entity? An ancestor?  
  
She was Megami. Her ears swept up a little more than they should. Her hair was dark, long, and flowing. In her hand of thin, long fingers, she grasped a staff.  
  
I was in awe of this creature. She was a higher being.  
  
"K-k-onnichiwa," I breathed.  
  
She smiled a warm smile and her pearl earrings shone in the soft light. "It is time."  
  
"Time for what?" Although I already knew.  
  
"To fulfill the prophecies." She smiled, and with her smile, the world went white.  
  
We were floating in space. She was telling me a story, and actually showing me as it played out. The Ellimist had done it many times.  
  
I saw the Planet Megami. Much like earth, only a little smaller. And less ocean. I saw the Atlantians arrive there in their last battered ship.  
  
"The Atlantians took the planet." The woman's voice echoed throughout all of space and time. "And named it for themselves. But you know this. Now I will show you what you do not know. It is time to learn the secrets of the Megami. And a little bit of foresight, on the behalf of a cheater." She laughed musically, and showed me what she meant.  
  
The story unfolded before my eyes, and everything slowly became clear. The Atlantians were brilliant. Almost supernaturally smart. But every so often, a child would be born whose intelligence even exceeded those of Atlantian philosophers. Like the Hork-Bajr seers. No one knew why, but every time a child was born, cataclysmic events would occur. The planet would be forever changed.  
  
As prophesized, a young Megami prodigy was born. And also, as prophesized, the gods whisked her away, for her role in changing history would be done in a round-a-bout way. She was sent away, as it was written, home.  
  
I blinked repeatedly. "Sent home?"  
  
And then it all began to dawn on me. She was talking about me? Me? ME? Oh no no no no no no.  
  
The messenger laughed, for she could hear my thoughts as well as they were her own. She finished her story aloud. "The young girl was reborn on a far away planet called earth. She lived among the humans. The gods said she would someday return, and give her people the gift they needed to defeat their Enemies from Above. This girl is you, Kai. If you search inside yourself, you too will know it."  
  
"Well I don't know what to say! I mean, I know it, but I can't really KNOW it, because come on it's craziness, it's totally.it's just.this is not just X-files Weird, this.this is Outer Limits weird!" We floated in space, her and I. Gazing down upon the planet where my friends were fighting for their lives. New and old. My eyes began to water. Seeing a planet like that.with such beauty.seeing it from space in total unity.made it seem like nothing we did down there could actually have any effect on it. It was just too big.to immense and powerful. Deep down, I knew that this planet was fragile. It all hung in the balance and I was the only one who could save it.  
  
I laughed suddenly, wiping tears from my cheeks.  
  
"Why do you laugh, Kai of the Prophecies?"  
  
"Because.the cheater you spoke of. The Ellimist. Of course. He's such a weasel. He brought me to earth to hide me from Crayak. Crayak didn't know that the Ellimist's twelve warriors included me. Well, he knew, but he didn't really know it was ME me." I giggled again.  
  
"Yes. That Ellimist has never fought fair." She smiled warmly. "Are you ready?"  
  
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Yes."  
  
  
  
Cassie  
  
The battle vanished. Without warning, all the fire of the fight was instantaneously blown out. Everyone stopped moving. My morph melted away, slowly. I became myself. Cassie. It was so strange. Every being on the battle field was bathed in a warm, comforting light. I felt mixed emotions. I didn't feel like I deserved to be comforted. How many lives had I taken that night? How many innocent hosts had died by my wolves' bite? But still the light came. It washed over me, over everyone. I didn't understand what was happening, but I didn't care. The light wasn't for me. It simply eased me into a dreamless slumber.  
  
  
  
Marco  
  
I don't know why. But I was the only one who stayed awake to witness the Megami's Metamorphosis.  
  
The Megami's what? You ask. You heard me correctly. Their metamorphosis. Then, I didn't understand. So I'll tell you what I saw.  
  
Lying on the cold foreign ground, bathed in my own blood, near death, I looked up to the sky. There framed against the starry vista, was a fantastic creature, a Megami, only.she had wings. Her hair was short, sloppy, and black. Her eyes glowed like two dark moons. And these wings! Dude! It'd never seen.I've still never seen.anything that were nearly as cool as these wings. They were huge, white, but not truly white. They were almost clear. They were big and magnificent and beautiful, and dangerous looking all at the same time.  
  
The creature looked at me. She was a distance away but she looked right at me. Then I realized.  
  
Kai.  
  
"Angel," I said stupidly. She grinned.  
  
Bye, Marco.  
  
I heard the words in my head, but not in my head. So strange. So beautiful. Like thoughts that just popped right in there. Like the Ellimist.  
  
She turned away from me, and spread her arms. Suddenly, there was a flash of blue white hot light, and all the Megami rose. They were lifted by unseen forces off the ground, glowing unnaturally. All at once, the Megami morphed. Morphed, wings, that is.  
  
The rest of the battle I watched from far, far, away. The Megami slashed, flew, slashed, flew. The Hork-Bajarr and Taxxons scrambled to their bases to retrieve their weapons but, oh! Surprise! We blew those up.  
  
The Megami won. They spared the lives of their remaining attackers and trapped them in huge force field cages. Turns out, the Bug Fighters vs. Hover crafts had come out a draw, and both the Blade Ship and The Atlantis had blown away each other's weaponary. The Bladeship turned and hauled butt outta there, abandoning their fellow Yeerks below.  
  
When we all finally came to, two days had passed. The Megami had carried us to the city of dreams and given us a tent to sleep in. I was the first to wake up.  
  
It was raining.  
  
Hanukt came running over.  
  
"You're alive," I said groggily, coughing. I looked around. I'd been placed on a cot. The tent was blue and green, and open on one side. The Megami seemed to be rejoicing, dancing in the rain. My friends had begun to stir. Rachel yawned. Fi and Ax rubbed their necks uncomfortably.  
  
"Yes, alive and quite well, actually. I'm glad you're awake. We've won." She grinned. "Who knew? Some of you Earthlings must not be so bad after all. The prophecies have been fulfilled."  
  
Everyone looked around at each other, taking in what Hanukt had said.  
  
"When you find her again, you be sure to tell Kai, thank you. On behalf of all the Megami, thank you." Hanukt smiled and turned away.  
  
The Battle Morphs gasped. Hanukt smiled and walked away. Completely comfortable in her new wings.  
  
Everybody suddenly forgot the wings and looked around. Kai? She was gone.  
  
And then, without warning, so was the tent. Again, in the warm light. Again, the Ellimist.  
  
"You did well. Good fight." He said, smiling smugly. Already, he was fading out. In the guise of an old man, he slowly began to blink on and off.  
  
"That's it?!" I demanded. Like I always do.  
  
Then, the Battle Senshi began to pull away from us. They were being tugged away, in another direction all together. Ax and Fi grabbed hands, but Fi was yanked away. The Ellimist faded out of existence.  
  
"Wait!" Amara yelled after him. She was a distance away now. "What happened to Kai-chan?! Where is she?!"  
  
"Bye, you guys!" Nichirasu yelled suddenly.  
  
"Been fun!" Shinji and Lani added in unison.  
  
Goodbye, Aximili. Fi said softly, bowing her tail.  
  
"Later, dudes." I waved affectionately. Where was Kai? Didn't matter. Either way, I would never see her again.  
  
The language barrier replaced itself, and as we slowly came back to our reality, we heard Amara faintly yelling in Japanese. I heard the word 'Ellimist' in there.  
  
And then we were back.  
  
  
  
Epilogue  
  
Amara  
  
We were returned home. I woke up in my bed, and the others all woke up, respectively, in their own.  
  
With absolutely no hesitation whatsoever, disregarding that it was about five in the morning, I jumped out of bed, and ran to Kai's house. It was raining and I was cold but I didn't care.  
  
The others were at Kai's door. My friends. Dear Friends. I'd been through so much with them. Fi, in human morph looked at me pleadingly.  
  
Please, god, let her be in here.  
  
Shinji rang the doorbell.  
  
And, to my amazement and utter relief, Kai answered it. She was wrapped in a large poofy blanket and rubbing her eyes. "What time is it?" She asked.  
  
"KAI-CHAN!" We all jumped on her, wet and rain and all, and hugged her very, very, tightly.  
  
Suddenly, my whole life just sort of came into focus. I decided right then and there that everything was going to be okay. My little cousin would beat the Cancer. We would save earth. We would. The gentle noise of the rain only added to the tenderness of the moment. I began to cry.  
  
Kai grinned and winked at me, and I knew that something had happened. Something incredible and indescribable that nobody would ever believe, even if one day we can tell people about this war.  
  
"Good fight, Amara." She said.  
  
"Good fight, Kai."  
  
Marco  
  
We met up in Cassie's barn the day after we'd all woken up in our beds, having not a day passed. I told everybody what I saw, knowing that they probably thought I'd hit my head awfully hard. Which, honestly, I was beginning to believe myself.  
  
Everything went back to normal-almost. Ax seemed a little more distant than usual. He missed Fi. We could tell. I knew the feeling.  
  
After about a week, I got online and did some research on the Japanese language. Can you believe it? Megami means 'Angel' or 'Goddess' in Japanese. I wonder if the Battle Senshi made the connection in the end.  
  
Rachel went back to shopping till dropping, Cassie returned to single handedly saving the rainforest. But, I don't know, she seemed a little sadder all the time. But she was okay. Tobias still lived on mice, and he was still toughing it out. And me? Guess I was okay. I went and hanged with Jake not long after that.  
  
"Sup, dude?" I asked him, as I walked him down the street of his sub division. The sun was setting.  
  
"Nothing." He ran his fingers through his hair. "That was something, huh?"  
  
"Yeah." I said. To my surprise, I found myself getting a little choked up over the whole thing. I rubbed my eye with the back of my hand.  
  
Jake looked at me curiously. "You okay, man?"  
  
I watched the sun set. It would be rising, very soon, over Japan.  
  
Guess this little adventure had answered my question. Houston, we are not alone. I hoped I'd sleep a little better that night. We are not alone.  
  
"Yeah, dude." I replied. Guy code, you know. "I'm good."  
  
  
  
  
  
Battlemorphz,  
  
out. 


End file.
